


Citadel General

by Seraina (seraina_doom)



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), Mad Max: Fury Road
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Cancer, Kidnapping, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Modern Era, Multi, Past Drug Addiction, Past Drug Use, Past Rape/Non-con, Terminal Illnesses, Warning: Immortan Joe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-02 13:05:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4061086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraina_doom/pseuds/Seraina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She dares not touch him, not wanting to disturb his peaceful slumber, but she longs to. He’s so still now, unlike the nervous ball of energy she’s used to during the day. She finally gives in to temptation and rests a single hand on his cheek, frowning at the heat from his fever. She watches him so long, she doesn’t notice his bright blue eyes are focused on her. </p>
<p>“Hi.” She pulled her hand back and wiped it on her pajama pants, trying to act casual. </p>
<p>“Hi.” He winced and shifted over in the bed, leaving room on the side with the least amount of tubing.</p>
<p>Immediately, she crawled into the bed with him, curled around his bony frame, careful not to snag the tubes and wires that kept him tied to the bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Night Time Visit

**Author's Note:**

> I have, in no way, abandoned All Things Shiny and Chrome. Now that that's out of the way, I can apologize for this nonsense. I've wanted to do an AU here for a while now and the "Nux in the hospital" prompt sort of stuck with me. This will be slower-going than my other fic, but just because it has an actual continuing plot. 
> 
> It is dark and I'm sorry for abusing our favorite characters so much, but... I'm not really sorry.

She dares not touch him, not wanting to disturb his peaceful slumber, but she longs to. He’s so still now, unlike the nervous ball of energy she’s used to during the day. She finally gives in to temptation and rests a single hand on his cheek, frowning at the heat from his fever. She watches him so long, she doesn’t notice his bright blue eyes are focused on her.

“Hi.” She pulled her hand back and wiped it on her pajama pants, trying to act casual.

“Hi.” He winced and shifted over in the bed, leaving room on the side with the least amount of tubing.

Immediately, she crawled into the bed with him, curled around his bony frame, careful not to snag the tubes and wires that kept him tied to the bed. “Can’t sleep in my room. Dag keeps swearing.”

“Even in her sleep?” His voice is a whisper even though his roommate is sleeping the sleep of the drugged.

“Mmhmm,” she nods into his shoulder. His arm curls around her back and she can feel him plucking at her red curls. “How are Larry and Barry?” She reaches up to his neck and lightly touches the lumps there. In the dim night lights, she can still see the faces she drew on his lumps with a pen stolen from the nurse’s station.

“They stopped kicking for now,” he sighed sleepily, trying his best to stay awake with her. “How was group?”

She hates when he asks. She hates that he cares when all she wants to do is focus on him. Though she’s pretty sure he thinks the same way and would rather talk about her problems. “It was fine. Epic sharing and whatever.”

She won’t give any more detail, but he’s too tired to ask anyway. She feels bad she keeps waking him up like this, but in this entire hospital, he’s the only one that actually gets her. And when she’s alone at night, with Dag’s sleep cussing and mumbling, all she thinks about is how he’s been upgraded to stage four and isn’t getting any better despite all the treatment the state can afford to pay. Not that they’re paying much. The tumors on his neck are enclosing around his throat and it’s a high risk surgery removing them. Not to mention any other lumps that she can’t seen but knows are lurking inside him.

He’s already drifted back to sleep and she’s left to wonder why. Why did she only meet him now? At the end of his life and the worst part of hers? Why couldn’t they have been childhood friends? Sharing classes at school and summer days together. Before her Mom died and left her in the bumbling hands of The System and that foster home that sent her over the edge. Before all the drugs and drinking and getting attacked and pregnant and… 

“Go to sleep.” He whispers into her hair, forcing her out of the dark and spiraling thoughts. Nux is better than the nurses at calming her down. He seems to just know when she needs someone to hold her hand and pull her out of the dark.

“Can’t. Too much to think about.” She feels terrible for keeping him up, he’s so sick right now, and she’s just bothering him because she’s too crazy to leave him alone.

“What are you thinking about?” He shifts again underneath her, trying to ease the pressure in his back. She knows he’s in pain, but he won’t call the nurse for any more pain meds. He says he doesn’t want to sleep the rest of his days away.

“How long are you going to be down like this? I need my running buddy back.” She isn’t sure how long she can take him being laid up. They changed up his chemo schedule and mixed up all his meds and zapped him with radiation and it knocked him flat out on his back.

He grunts and struggles with keeping his eyes open. “I’ll be up again soon. A week. Can’t take more of Slit’s bitching than that.” He vaguely gestures towards his roommate with the hand that’s covered in tubes and monitors. Slit, the douchebag that Nux has the bad luck to be stuck with, has some kind of rare mouth cancer that ate his cheeks up. He might not have been an asshole before he got sick, but when he’s awake and talking, he only spews nastiness and hate.

Nux seems to like him, but he likes everyone. “Are you sure?” 

“Mmhmm.” He drifts off again and she waits for his breathing to even out before slipping out of his bed. She watches him sleep for a few more minutes

“Can’t sleep again?” A gruff voice startles her while she was sneaking back to her room. She turns around to find the orderly, Max, standing next to Nux’s door. 

“You going to write me up?” She knows if he does it will be bad. She won’t be allowed to see Nux again if she’s officially caught in his bed. Not like they were doing anything. 

The orderly shakes his head. “I’ll walk you back.”

She wants to protest his company, but she can’t. Not when he’s caught her in the wrong side of the hospital in the middle of the night. “Thanks.”

They walk in silence to the elevators, down three floors, across the hallway and up three floors. Her window actually faces Nux’s over the inner courtyard, which would be a little better, but the tinting on the window and blinds make it hard to see each other unless they’re both pressed up against the glass.

The orderly hums under his breath as she points out which room is hers. “Don’t get caught next time.” He nods and leaves her to slip back to bed, listening to the sounds of her roommate’s nightmares.

The next morning is brutal. The sun is too bright, the nurses are too cheery and Dag sings to herself loudly. She doesn’t want to get out of bed, so she pulls the blankets up over her head. The morning nurse won’t let her sleep in. She moves on auto pilot until group and hides her yawns and ever-increasing blinks behind a curtain of red hair.

“Capable!”

She snaps up and sit straight. “What?” 

“Are you alright?” Doctor Joseph Immortan, an older man, the doctor that runs this weird private hospital and her personal psychiatrist is staring at her with that frown that means he’s disappointed in her.

“Yes, I just didn’t sleep well last night.” She knows she can’t hide it, so she hopes to distract him away from her real distraction.

“Why is that?” Doctor Immortan’s tone is probing, like he knows the answer, but expects her to just fill it in for formalities.

She opens her mouth, but Cheedo speaks first, leaning forward with her dark hair falling over half of her face. “She was thinking about her boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” She snaps at the girl but looks at her doctor. When she came here, he told her that any kind of romantic relationships were out of the question. They would only stress her out more, make her slide back into old habits and addictions. “He’s just a friend and I’m worried about him.” 

“Who is this friend?” The doctor looks at her with a stern gaze and she sags in the chair. 

“His name is Nux. In the cancer ward. We met out in the garden. He’s started a new treatment and it isn’t taking too well.” She rambles, hoping that more pointless information will distract him from her stupid feelings.

“Ahh yes, Mr. Blackthumb. I am familiar with his case. It will be some time before he’s allowed out in the garden again. Why do you think about him?” He’s digging, trying to pull something out of her. 

“He’s nice. He lost his parents when he was young too. We both like fast cars. He’s harmless.” She tries to play up Nux’s good features and innocence, even though he’s mentioned that he’d like to do more with her if he wasn’t a pile of bones held together with some string and drugs.

“The sexy little skeleton boy,” Dag sings. “I’d take his bones any day.”

Capable is mortified as she listens to Doctor Immortan try to hush the rest of the group. “Now, Capable, I know you feel drawn towards this boy, but what would you even do about it? Worrying about him is only endangering your own health.”

“I know. I guess… it makes me feel things about time that I’ve never felt before. Like… I’m just sitting here wasting mine when some people don’t have that.” She forces herself to keep telling true things so that maybe the subject will be dropped. That his attention will stay on her instead of turning on poor sick Nux.

“Those are very valid feelings, Capable, especially after your ordeal. Have you thought about what you would do with your time?” Doctor Immortan looks at her straight on and she has to resist the urge to flinch.

“I haven’t gotten that far yet.” She mumbles, stretching out the minutes before the session is over. Later she’ll have to deal with him one-on-one and that is much scarier, but she hopes to have a plan by then.

“Think about it. Actually, all of you think about it. We’ll discuss it tomorrow.” And he gets up with a scratch of his chair on the floor, he’s gone.

She sits there for a while longer, staring at the beige tiles. She knows she’s surrounded before she hears their voices. “Did you jump him last night?” Dag dances in front of her, moving her arms around and nearly hitting the others.

She looks up at her roommate and huffs. “No. It was actually quiet in his room.”

The quiet girl, with short hair moved in close. “Is he really dying? Can you tell?” 

She shakes her head, though she’s not sure which question she’s answering. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” 

The girls giggle and scatter and she’s finally left alone on the couch. She flinches when a paper airplane hits her in the arm. When she looks up, all she sees is an orderly mopping up a mess in the hallway. She carefully unfolds the note and reads Nux’s scratchy handwriting.

“Sorry I fell asleep. I’ll try to be more awake next time. Put something white in the window if you’re coming tonight.” 

He wants her to come! She crumples the paper up and shoves it in the pockets of her pants, not wanting anyone to see her with such contraband as a secret note. She heads out to the garden to try to have something nice to tell Nux when she visits him tonight. She’s already planning on how to sneak past the night nurse to get to his room.

“Capable.” Doctor Immortan’s stern voice shocks her out of her daydreams. “It’s time for our appointment.”

Her heart sinks a little bit and she nods to follow him to his office. His office is very masculine, dark wood tones and towering bookshelves filled with intimidating books. His chair is high backed, and even though the seat is the same height as the other chairs in the room, his spot is more dominating.

He’s behind her now, the door is closed and his hands are on her shoulders. “Capable, do you remember what I said about relationships?”

She nods. “They’re bad for me right now. They’ll stress me out and I’ll never get myself back together.” She checked herself in after that police officer told her to get help. She had nothing then, nowhere to go, no money, no family, no hope of ever getting a job. But here she was six months later, still spinning her wheels. Letting Doctor Immortan tell her she’s not ready for the outside world. Letting him put his fat hands under her shirt. She hears his wheezy breath in her ear and closes her eyes. She know she won’t ever leave. Just like Nux won’t ever leave. They’re bot stuck here until time runs out. 

“That’s a good girl, Capable.” Doctor Immortan gives her two pills to take and she does. She lies back on the couch because the couch is supposed to be safe. It isn’t though because Doctor Immortan’s hands are on her again and she just doesn’t seem to care enough to fight him off or scream or do all that she’s supposed to do.

He finishes up quickly and she lays there, wanting clean underwear for another half hour while he asks her stupid questions about her childhood. “And what about Mr. Blackthumb?”

“It’s so sad.” She plays the part of the fool. “Isn’t it sad? Nobody will be around to remember him except us. The hospital people.”

“Yes, I suppose so. But we will just have to remember him. Witness his passing and move on ourselves.” He seems satisfied by her answers, not pressing any further. 

Her hour is up and she is back in her room, staring out the window, but unable to bring herself to put the white square of paper there. No message to Nux tonight. She’ll let him sleep.


	2. Coming and Going

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He waits two days before he realizes that Capable isn’t coming. He puts up with Slit’s shit for another day before he just can’t take it anymore. He musters enough energy to get out of bed and manages to set off an alarm that brings the nurse. He gives them an innocent look and says he wants to go to the garden. He’s unhooked and given permission to go, so long as he goes in a wheelchair.
> 
> He doesn’t like it, but he’ll do anything to leave the room right now. He lets the nurse take him down and waits until she leaves him alone. There’s actually less to do out here than there is inside, but the fresh air is nice. He can almost not smell antiseptic and sickness. He leans back until the front wheels of the chair lift off the ground. Hands on the wheels, he leans forward, balancing on the back wheels.
> 
> “You’re going to crack your skull open.”

He waits two days before he realizes that Capable isn’t coming. He puts up with Slit’s shit for another day before he just can’t take it anymore. He musters enough energy to get out of bed and manages to set off an alarm that brings the nurse. He gives them an innocent look and says he wants to go to the garden. He’s unhooked and given permission to go, so long as he goes in a wheelchair.

He doesn’t like it, but he’ll do anything to leave the room right now. He lets the nurse take him down and waits until she leaves him alone. There’s actually less to do out here than there is inside, but the fresh air is nice. He can almost not smell antiseptic and sickness. He leans back until the front wheels of the chair lift off the ground. Hands on the wheels, he leans forward, balancing on the back wheels.

“You’re going to crack your skull open.”

He slides his eyes over and sees Capable standing there. He lets the front wheels hit the   ground and smiles up at her. “Hey.”

She was cagey, looking around for the watchers that were supposed to corral the patients in, keep them from hurting themselves or others, but for once they were blissfully alone. He’s sure the female orderly that accompanied Capable went to grab a cigarette. “Sorry.”

He nods, knowing she’s really not supposed to see him. He’s not really supposed to talk to her, but they’ve stopped caring what he does now. So long as he’s some tally in their books. “It’s alright.”

She sits down on the bench and he thinks about sitting next to her, but he decides against it. He likes it when she touches him, but he won’t press for it. He’s having a Good Day and he won’t sour it with her flinches. “Blackthumb, huh?” She still doesn’t look at him, but she’s talking and that might be better.

“What about it?” He’s never had much of an attachment to his name. He’s been orphaned so long ago that he has no memory of his birth parents. His life was foster homes, group homes and then hospitals after he got sick and never quite seemed to get better.

“It’s kind of a weird name, isn’t it? Nux Blackthumb?” 

He shrugs. “It’s what you get when a cop asks a lost three-year-old his name and it gets written down. It’s just a name. What kind of name is Capable?" 

She smiles a little bit and shrugs. “My mom was super into feminism and stuff. She wanted me to be able to do anything. Mostly it just gets annoying filling out forms.”

“The puns, I bet, are probably annoying.” He nods and fidgets with the wheels of the chair.

“Was that the only way they’d let you out?” So she did notice it, even though she still looks distracted. She hasn’t quite met his eyes yet.

“Yeah. There’s one of those… news crew things… I’m supposed to be the display piece. You know, sit there in a bed and look sick and pitiful so all the people nearby will see how horrible cancer is and give the hospital more money.” He hates it, but that was the deal he’d made, when they brought him here as their charity case.

“They’re making you go on TV?” She looks at him a little funny, like she’s trying to picture it in her head.

“Yeah. What? I clean up. Besides, Doctor Immortan doesn’t have to give me a free ride.” It’s true, he doesn’t. The doctor found him in a county hospital, getting sicker and sicker and nobody wanted to help him. He scooped him up and brought him here to Citadel and he’s been alright ever since. On really good days, he gets to leave for a while, or he’ll help one of the staff with their cars. He’s got a real good feel for engines and loves driving cars.

Suddenly, he and Capable are surrounded by women. He’s not so sure what to do.

“Is this him?”

“He’s barely there!”

“Look at that face!”

“Stop fussing, he’s not that great.”

He looks at Capable, who looks as red as her hair, then back to the women crowding him. One of them turns the wheelchair so fast, he thinks he might puke on them all. “Hi.”

The eldest, with golden hair and a pregnant belly looks at him closely. “You’re Nux?”

He nods. “Yeah.” He’s used to be stared at by doctors and nurses. These wild women from Capable’s side of the hospital are strange. He doesn’t quite feel safe, but he’s not sure why.

“You aren’t doing anything to our Capable, are you?” The ‘leader’ asks and leans forward, her hands on his wrists, pinning them to the armrests on the chair. He can tell one of the girls is behind him, stopping him from moving. He might be able to push one over, but he knows he can’t outrun them in his current state.

“No! Nothing! Just friends!” He manages, his eyes flicking over each of them. “Honest.” They don’t believe he’s as harmless as he looks, which is a little bit of an ego boost, since lately he hasn’t felt like he could even lift a sheet of paper without getting tired. But it is also worrying, has Capable been telling them about sneaking into his bed?

“Good.” The pack leader straightens herself and steps back, the other women do as well. Soon the flurry of hair and robes disappear down the garden path. He looks over to see Capable still sitting on the bench next to him.

“I’m so sorry. It just came up in group that we were friends. It got a little out of hand. I swear.” She lowers her voice. “Nobody knows about anything else.”

He nods. He’s relieved really. He’s not supposed to have visitors at night, nor is she allowed to leave certain designated areas either. He can’t afford to get kicked out, because then he’s just as good as dead on the street. He has no family, no home and Doctor Immortan only keeps him here because his case is “interesting”. The rest of his days will be spent being poked and prodded. But he can’t bring himself to do anything else. Doctor Immortan tells him that he needs this. He needs him and he is going to help others with cancer research, so it’s worth getting poked and prodded and scanned and presented to students as a thing.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble.” He can’t imagine what life would be like without Capable. It would probably go back to being like it was Before. But he knows that if she leaves, he’ll just glide through the rest of his days in a half-daze. Sleep the rest of his time away and go quiet and soft in the night. 

“I’d rather you had your own room. I keep thinking Slit is awake and watching us.” She finally turns to look at him, her green eyes sad.

“He’s at least getting better, so we should be rid of him soon.” He’s glad to get rid of his foul-mouthed roommate, even though he’ll probably be put with someone else anyway. Someone that’s probably worse.

She sighs and he pulls away from his thoughts enough to look at her again. “Have you ever just wanted to… leave?” She reaches out for his hand, which he gives. She tugs him closer so they can whisper.

He turns the question over in his mind. “I can’t.” He sighs, lacing his fingers with hers. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” He wants to tell her that he does. He’s wasting his time with treatment that kills him faster, but this is really the only place that would take him.

“But what if you did?” She leans forward, closing her eyes and presses her forehead to his. He hair tickles his face and he forgets how to breathe.

“I…” The loudspeaker crackles in the garden and they pull away from each other. He gasps and struggles to breathe again after being startled. 

“Visiting hours are now over, tomorrow’s hours start at 7am.”

Nux laughs, it’s a thin reedy one, his mates on his neck don’t give him enough air when he’s bent over, but he’s fine now. “Scared me there. I… should get back. Don’t want to miss dinner, yeah?” He pulls away from her, taking control of the stupid wheelchair and making the long trek back to his room. 

What if he had someplace else to go? Surely if he had a family it would be better than this old place. Citadel is badly in need of renovation but they hide the faults with white paint and smiling nurses and orderlies. They are badly understaffed, so much that some of the more long-term patients have to take care of themselves most of the time. He used to dream of being adopted, back before he was sick. He’d have a new family and a dog and they’d live happily ever after.

But then he got sick and never got better and treatments were spotty while he was bounced between foster homes. Nobody wants a sick kid that isn’t theirs. The group home had at least told him straight-up that he would turn eighteen and leave before he found a new family. That is, when the doctors weren’t telling him he wouldn’t last another year. A handful of stolen years later and here he is, wondering where else there is.

Capable wouldn’t ask him if she didn’t have a reason though. Was she leaving soon? He never asked why she was here. The low security mental ward, the Vault it was sometimes called. Ironic since the patients wandered throughout the hospital anyway. The women were usually just too stressed and needed a break. Sometimes they were addicts that couldn’t pull themselves together. Sometimes they had worse problems, but since he’s been here, he can’t remember a time when one of them caused trouble.

He pictures that Capable was the kind of girl that got good grades all the time. Pushing herself too hard to be perfect. She might have burned out in college, but it’s just a setback. She probably has plans once she gets out. Her future is bright and shiny like chrome.

Unlike him, with such limited time.

When he gets back to his room, Slit is gone, but he is whisked away for another round of tests. His mind rolls over and over the thought of leaving as he’s poked and prodded and looked at like a thing. Medical students talk about him as if he’s not even there.

He falls asleep after dinner without meaning to.

“Hey,” a whisper creeps to his ear and he grunts, taking longer to force his eyes open.

“Move over.”

He slides over in the bed and feels Capable’s weight settle against him. He finally blinks away the last bits of sleep. “Hi.”

“You never answered my question.” Her green eyes bore into his. His sleepy brain tries to put two and two together.

“Yes. If I had someplace else to go, I’d go.” He smiles when she smiles. She looks so relieved now.

“Great. Because we’re going to need you to drive.” And she hops of his bed and goes to his closet, rummaging through his clothes. 

“What?” He blinks again and sits up. “Now?” He looks at his arm, for once he’s free of tubes to tie him down. He slips out of bed, feet touching the cold floor.

“Yes. Now. None of us know how to drive. Or hotwire a car.” He mutely catches the clothes she hands him, a t-shirt, jeans a hoodie. He strips off his hospital pajamas and into the clothes she hands him. Before he can even get his shoes on all the way, she tugs him out of the room and down the hall.

He is fully awake now, adrenaline pumping in his veins and she takes him to an old van, an ancient thing that must have been abandoned in the parking lot. Someone flings open the door for them and he sees the white-blonde hair of one of Capable’s friends. He gasps and sputters, but he doesn’t stop, only shoves his head and shoulders underneath the dash of the van and pulls at the wires.

“Hurry!”

“Hush up!”

“They’ll notice any minute now!” 

The car starts to life and he jumps behind the wheel. “Everybody in?” He adjusts the mirror to see five frightened faces huddling in the back and he floors it. It’s good to be doing something after so little activity. He can’t stop smiling as he leaves the hospital parking lot and gets the van on the highway. “Where am I going?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so not how I originally planned this, but here it is. The wives bust themselves out and Nux drives. Furiosa finally shows up in the next chapter, and we'll see Max again.


	3. Safe House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Furiosa expected to see the van parked in the driveway of the safe house. Her partner had planted it in in the hospital parking lot for the girls to escape in. She called in to her precinct to have the van towed so that anyone looking for it would be delayed. She expected to see five women when she got inside. She did not expect to find a pale sickly boy curled up on the couch with Capable and Cheedo fussing over him. Dag hovers uncertainly behind the couch, twisting her hair into individual tangles. Toast sits across the room glaring at the boy like he’s offended her; which he has solely on the fact he is male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this fic sort of got away from me. I tried for hospital drama and here I got some kind of weird... I don't know what it is.

Furiosa expected to see the van parked in the driveway of the safe house. Her partner had planted it in in the hospital parking lot for the girls to escape in. She called in to her precinct to have the van towed so that anyone looking for it would be delayed. She expected to see five women when she got inside. She did not expect to find a pale sickly boy curled up on the couch with Capable and Cheedo fussing over him. Dag hovers uncertainly behind the couch, twisting her hair into individual tangles. Toast sits across the room glaring at the boy like he’s offended her; which he has solely on the fact he is male.

“What’s this?” She finds Angrahad’s serious expression and holds it there. “Who is he and what’s he doing here?” The de-facto leader of these girls stands tall and regal, the fact that she’s eight months pregnant just makes her look more fierce.

“His name is Nux Blackthumb. Capable met him inside. He hotwired the van and drove it for us. The Doctor,” she practically spits Immortan’s title out like a bad taste in her mouth, “took the keys from me. It was easier for us to bring him along than break into his office.” She spreads her hands on her pregnant belly, but stands defiant. Furiosa can’t blame her though, it was good improvising and they couldn’t wait much longer.

“Fine. You get followed?” She moves around Capable to look at the sleeping kid. His clothes hang off him and he’s bald, chemo bald. The way he’s snoring is disconcerting, she’d peg him for having sleep apnea with the way he stops breathing. 

“No,” Capable stands up and smiles. “Nux made sure we weren’t. He’s a good driver and he’s very brave.” The girl glances back to the sleeping boy, her eyes full of concern until the kid snores again.

Furiosa doesn’t like this. That look in the redhead’s eyes is trouble. This kid is an unknown and is just making her job harder. If she’s ever going to catch Joe Immortan in the act of being a lowlife scum she needs a solid case. Now Immortan’s lawyers can say that this Nux kid kidnapped the women from the hospital.

“You should have called me,” She grumbles and leans down to shake the kid awake. “Hey.”

The kid starts awake, opening impossibly blue eyes that meet her own. She can tell that he’s disoriented the way he doesn’t seem to focus on anything but the floor. He pushes himself upright with a wheeze. “Who are you?” His eyes flick from her to Capable and he folds in on himself as if he might be punished. 

Capable hovers and Furiosa shoos the women away. “Go get some sleep, the lot of you.” She stares at the boy. “Do you know what’s going on?”

He shakes his head. “No. Capable just asked me to drive.” He looks up at her, looks her right in the eyes. “Am I in trouble?”

“No. My name is Detective Furiosa Imperator.” She flashes her badge at him and he looks twitchy, concerned. “What do you know about Joseph Immortan?”

“He took on my case, medical care for research. Wouldn’t have made it this far without him.” He rocks back and forth a little, hugging himself. 

Shit. There’s hero worship in those words. She’s going to have to break it to him hard. “Immortan is under investigation for tax fraud, falsifying medical documents, kidnapping minors, sexual assault, rape, and a slew of other crimes that will put him in jail for a long time. Citadel General will be shut down.”

His eyes go wide and he gasps, struggling from either the news or whatever kept him in the hospital so long. “No… but… he… I…” he puts his head between his knees and breathes deep, sucking air like a fish out of water. 

“You like Capable, right?” She saw the looks between them, she already knows his answer. She wishes she was better at this comforting thing, but it’s not her bag. She sits down on the couch next to him but doesn’t touch. She has no idea what’s wrong with him and he’s jumpy enough to do something crazy.

“Y-yeah.” His voice is a shaky whisper as if it’s some kind of secret. Poor kid. Even she can see his puppy love for her and she’s only been here for ten minutes tops.

“He hurt her. Bad.” She watches the kid sit up again, his expression hurt and angry. But she’s surprised that he’s still listening. He’s accepted the news and is already putting it in the past.

“What’s going to happen to me?” He knows he isn’t supposed to be here. She wants to tell him that it’ll be alright, she’ll take care of him, but she can’t. She needs to call in this latest development and it’s one hell of a thing. 

“I don’t know yet.” She presses her hand to his forehead. “What’s wrong with you? You going to die on me?”

“Night fever. I’ll probably be coming down off meds soon.” He pulls away from her hand, curling up on the couch, folding his knees to his chest. “Hodgkin's lymphoma.” He whispered the last part and she figures it’s bad. Bad enough that the only street clothes he had were when he was healthier.

“My partner should be here soon. We can get you what you need.” Her partner is overdue, but she doesn’t want to panic this kid. “Is the couch okay?”

He nods. “Couch is great.” He moves to lay back down when Capable peeks around the corner. 

“He can sleep in my bed.” Capable looks at Nux with an affectionate gaze. It’s enough to make Furiosa’s teeth ache from the sweetness there.

“No. That’s not how this works. Besides, your boyfriend is already complicating our case here. We don’t want the lawyers getting their hands on this and getting away from us.” And that is just the legal reason. She does not need any more drama. This is hard enough trying to keep these girls safe.

The front door opens and closes and finally her partner shuffles in through the door. “Been a change in…” Max spots the kid, who recognizes him right away.

“Yeah, I know.” She ushers him to the kitchen. “They couldn’t get the keys to the van so they got the kid to steal the van.”

Max takes a breath and lets it out through his nose. “I know this kid. He and the redhead are friendly. She snuck out at night to visit him. Nothing funny, just being close and talking.” Max leans against the kitchen counter, though he still has a view of the living room. “Call in the change of plans. I copied the kid’s chart, we need to get him to a safe doctor after we relocate him.”

“You think we can get him to separate from Capable?” She feels a headache come on and presses the heels of her hands to her eyes.

“Not easily.” He mutters and puts on a pot of coffee. It isn’t even four am and she already needs it.

Max leaves soon after, he still has his shift at the hospital. He can’t blow his cover now or Immortan will get too suspicious. When she has her coffee, she calls her commander. Updates him of the plan change. He’s not too happy about it, but they can’t take the kid back now.

She is not ready for Angharad to be awake at six in the morning, looking forlorn at the pot of coffee. “How soon until we can move again?”

“Later today. Our extra passenger is making things difficult. It would be much easier if you’d let us house you all separately.” This was a logistical nightmare; trying to protect these women, her only willing witnesses is going to be the end of her.

“No, we agreed, we stay together.” Angharad moved over to the fridge to see what was there. There was some food, but not much in the way of perishables. “And that includes Nux. He’s not safe now either. Never really was being under his thumb.”

“You’ll all be taken to a private airfield by car. We’ll make a few trips. We have to now.” Furiosa sips her coffee and waits for Angharad’s retort.

“He’s sweet. Never tried anything with her,” Angharad finds a box of oatmeal and scans the directions, her tone is conversational but she’s leaving no room to be argued with. The mother has already adopted Nux into her family.

“I don’t care. Do you know how easy it is to track a person through their medications? It’s going to be hard enough to hide you when you’re ready to pop.” He fingers tighten around the handle of the coffee mug. She needs them to know how difficult this is going to be. She can’t just take six people from a private hospital from a criminal like Joe Immortan and just expect nothing else to happen.

“We can’t send him back now. Joe will kill him, if he hasn’t already used him as an experiment already.” Angharad cooks the pot of oatmeal, her back to the detective.

“What do you mean?” Furiosa stares at the woman, trying to will her to turn around and have a proper conversation.

“I mean that Joe and his staff were using some patients for crazy experiments. He played god with us all.” And Furiosa knows this but she can’t prove a damn thing. Not until they can seize Immortan’s notes and records and everything in that damned hospital.

She’s about to open her mouth again when Nux appears in the doorway, his shoulder leaning against the old wood paneling. “Morning.” He mumbles and shuffles into the kitchen.

Angharad turns and smiles, then places a bowl of oatmeal in front of him. “Here Nux.”

He blinks at her, then pushes the bowl away. “I’m not hungry. You eat it.”

“You need to keep up your strength,” she slides the bowl back to him, a motherly tone about her.

“I’ll just throw it up later.” The bowl gets slid again.

Furiosa can’t take it, so she grabs the bowl. “If neither of you will eat it, I will.” 

Angharad smiles and gets up to scoop more of the plain oatmeal into bowls and Nux does manage a few bites before he gets up and runs to the bathroom.

Capable witnesses this from the doorway and frowns, but she takes Nux’s seat and eats his leftovers. “Why waste it?” Furiosa can tell she’s disturbed by the sounds of vomiting, but she’s really doing her best to ignore it. Angharad frowns too, but it is more sad than worried.

Cheedo and Toast stumble in half-asleep at all the commotion and are served with more of Angharad’s lumpy oatmeal. “Morning,” Toast mumbles and Cheedo rests her head on the table.

“Soon as you’re done, I want you all ready. We’re leaving as soon as we have the green light.” Furiosa is already up and heading outside on the porch. She can’t take all this right now. She needs to make some more calls anyway and wait for the Marshals to get here to take the bunch of them away.

She’s about to dial out when her phone rings. “Detective Imperator.”

“There’s been an incident at Citadel General.” There’s a pause on the line. “A shooting. Immortan cleared out. We have an APB on him but you need to be careful.”

Her heart skips a beat. “How many dead?”

“Four, including the head nurse Catherine Giddy.” Giddy was in on Immortan’s plans. He’s sacrificing his own people now. Desperate. Dangerous. “Rockatansky called it in.”

“How long am I waiting on that Marshall?” She looks back at the room full of kids, wondering when she got so attached to their strange little family.

Cheedo found an ancient teapot and is setting it on the stover to boil. She picks some tea bags from a green box and sets them aside.

Toast laughs at something Dag’s story that is full of wild hand motions and craziness. Her face gets twisted up into an odd smile that she levers on her adopted sisters.

Nux emerges from the bathroom looking a little sheepish and less green than when he went in.

Capable pulls Nux down to sit on her lap and he folds on top of her like a blanket, his head on hers, his arm around her, his long legs touching the floor. 

Only Angharad isn’t smiling. Because she’s looking directly at Furiosa and knows that something is deeply wrong. The escape was too easy. This is too easy. Immortan’s known all along hasn’t he?

“I need backup NOW!”

And the entire porch explodes around her.


	4. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can’t hear anything except a high pitched ringing and there’s a wall of flames in the living room. His shoes are gone, burned up in the fire that burns after the explosion that probably killed the detective. Nux pushes himself up off of Capable and shakes her shoulder, trying to stir her. The room is filling with smoke and his hearing is just starting to come back to him now. “Capable! CAPABLE!” He shouts and coughs and gags and he feels another set of hands pulling at his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if it seems rushed in places. I'm trying to map out what I want to do now, so this is sort of a transitional thing.

He can’t hear anything except a high pitched ringing and there’s a wall of flames in the living room. His shoes are gone, burned up in the fire that burns after the explosion that probably killed the detective. Nux pushes himself up off of Capable and shakes her shoulder, trying to stir her. The room is filling with smoke and his hearing is just starting to come back to him now. “Capable! CAPABLE!” He shouts and coughs and gags and he feels another set of hands pulling at his arm.

He blinks up through the smoke and sees Dag hovering over him, tugging him up. Toast and Cheedo are helping Angharad, who looks like she’s bleeding. Capable stirs and somehow they’re all holding hands so tightly he can’t feel his fingers. His chest hurts. His throat hurts. But soon they end up outside on the other side of the house, the girl with short hair, Toast, pulling them all out. The first hit of fresh air hurts and he finds himself doubled over, retching and choking. He can’t tell who grabs his shoulders, but somebody drags him further away from the house. Finally, his hearing comes back to him and he sees the orderly from the hospital. The quiet one that helped him get notes to Capable.

“Come on kid.” The man all but picks him up and helps him into the back of an ambulance, lights are shone in his eyes and he finds that the answers to questions he doesn’t even hear spill out of his mouth. Is he on any medications? Lots. Is he dizzy? Yes, but not more than usual. Is he injured? No. Does he want to go to the hospital? Absolutely not. He remembers retching, narrowly missing the medic’s shoes and someone laughing. He’s not sure who, but there are hands on him again and a needle in his arm. “It’s fine.” Someone says. “For the nausea.” They drag him off to another van and Capable is there. He smiles at her though he’s not sure what there is to smile about. He knows he’s wheezing. He knows his heart is racing. But he’s alive dammit! Finally!

He thinks he drifts off because the next thing he knows, he’s wrapped in a blanket and laying across Capable’s lap on some kind of cot in a generic looking room. He coughs and wheezes and coughs again until gentle hands help him sit up. For a moment he sees only a curtain of red hair. “Shh, it’s okay.”

“Where… where are we?” His throat is killing him and it sounds like he’s been gargling glass, but he’s fine. Really he is.

“Detective Rockatansky got us out of the house. We’re at the police station.” She sounds hoarse too and her eyes are red. Her face is covered in soot, but there are fresh tear tracks there. She couldn’t have been crying for him. He’s fine. 

“Is… everyone okay?” He knows he’s as okay as he can be, but right now he only sees Capable. There are other cots in this room, but they are empty. Where are they?

“Dag and Toast and Cheedo are giving statements. Angharad was knocked out, and they took her to a hospital - a different hospital - to get checked out. F-Furiosa… she was… she’s in surgery now. It’s not good.” Capable sniffles again but wipes her face with the scratchy blanket they are wrapped in. Detective Imperator was on the porch when it exploded. “She can’t come with us now.”

The room wobbles for a few seconds and he breathes carefully, deeply. He’s running hot again and he’s not sure if it’s because of his cancerous blood or if he’s starting to come off his meds. He imagines it’ll a magnificent train wreck, especially when the anti-depressants wear off.

A manic sort of laugh escapes his lips as he realizes that his adventure is likely over now. He’s going to be shipped back to the hospital, back to his slow, mundane death. His breath hitches in a sob and he can’t stop the tears now. There go the anti-depressants.

“What… what’s wrong?” Her eyes are big and watery too, but her face softens with concern. She puts her hand on his head, her fingers gently curling around his ear. He can’t help but lean into her touch.

“They’re going to send me back.” The weight of that realization settles in his chest. This could be the last time he gets to spend with Capable. Soon a cop will walk in and take him, put him in a car and take him back. Any minute now.

“Back? No… no,” she shakes her head and brushes her fingers along the scar on the side of his face. He can’t remember where it came from right now, only that he’d been a stupid, angry asshole when he was younger. Back before his sickness turned to Sickness with a capital ‘S’. “Nux, you’re coming with us. They promised. We all get to stay together. You just have to hang on for a few days, a week at most, okay? They’re going to fix up Angharad and we’ll get to go to our new home. Together. All of us.”

“I… can come too?” He can feel the tension just evaporate from his body as he lets that idea settle deep in his bones. He’s never felt… wanted before.

“Of course you can you silly boy,” she smiles and kisses him on his dry lips. He feels like he’s died and this is some kind of eternal afterlife that he somehow earned. Capable here and kissing him. In the back of his mind, he knows it’s terribly selfish of him. 

He drifts in and out of consciousness. Capable shakes him awake because he’s snoring. He’s not snoring really so much as Larry and Barry are acting up, kicking him in the throat, making it hard to breathe enough to sleep properly. But he can’t tell her that, she’s already upset that Angharad has a slight concussion and so he keeps quiet and gladly accepts the aspirin somebody hands him and chugs the water. His mouth is dry and his back hurts. He wakes fully when Capable pulls him to his feet. “What’s going on?”

“We’re leaving now.” He hangs boneless against Capable’s side until someone else slips a strong arm around him. He blinks over to see the orderly that would help him take messages to Capable at the hospital, but now he has a badge and gun on his belt. Oh. Cop. He must have been undercover.

“Where are we going?” He feels himself say. Getting up and moving is difficult and he feels eyes on him when they ease him into a borrowed wheelchair. 

“To a small airport, not far. Then a plane.” The not-orderly pushes the chair and Capable takes his hand. Their group is joined by Toast and Dag and Cheedo, clinging together. He drifts off again and wakes in a small plane, what they call a puddle jumper. He feels sluggish, hazy. He’s sure that somebody must have given him something. His mouth is dry and he feels dizzy but not nauseous. Capable is sleeping next to him, her head resting against his shoulder. He smiles and reaches up to brush her hair from her face. She looks so relaxed that it hurts him a little and he looks away. The other girls cluster about. Cheedo and Toast whisper to each other. Cheedo is curled up across the aisle from them. And Angharad is awake, a bandage on her forehead and looking back at him with eyes that seem to look right down inside him. 

He’s not sure why, but he shifts Capable off his shoulder and stands, moving up two rows to sit next to the pregnant woman. “Hi.” He says quietly.

“How are you feeling?” She rests her hands on her baby and waits for his answer. She looks like some kind of angel. He can imagine her glowing with bright wings and a halo instead of a bandage hiding the stitches in her forehead.

“I’ll… be alright.” He avoids her eyes, but he knows she’s still looking at him. Like she knows he’s lying through his teeth. “I’m not going to die tonight.”

She nods, accepting his answer at last. “Are you afraid?” She isn’t looking at him, just looking out at the blackness in the window. He can see both of their reflections in the thick glass. 

“I’ve been dying for a long time now. I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of… not doing anything… meaningful.” He keeps his voice low, not wanting the others to hear, especially not Capable. 

Angharad finally meets his eyes and wraps one of her long arms around his shoulder. He feels something stir deep within him, like he’s finally remembering what it’s like to have a mother hold him. And even though he’s far too old to need such comfort, he takes what is offered freely. He carefully snakes his arms around her too. It’s not like Capable. Not close. But Angharad doesn’t push him away, or seem to mind that he’s making her shirt wet with the tears he can’t seem to stop.

“S-sorry.” He mumbles, using his hands to swipe at his eyes.

“It’s okay.” Her hand finds its way to his head and he has to look away. “We’re almost there.”

“Where are we going?” He leans over to look out the windows, seeing nothing but scattered lights as the plane angles downward slowly.

“The Green Place.” She smiles. “Furiosa’s house. The house she found for us. There’s room for you too, as long as you need it. As long as you want it.”

He nods and gets up, making his way back to Capable. She’s awake now, but if she notices he’s been crying she doesn’t say. The plane lands and they’re ushered towards a car. He’s allowed to walk this time, since he’s not so disoriented.

The car ride is long and he thinks that if there is one more stage of this trip, he might go insane. The only thing that keeps him focused is Capable’s hand, her fingers laced with his own. On his other side, Dag braids her hair into multiple tiny strands. He watches her nimble fingers work.

“I can do you next,” she grins and her fingers ghost along his bald head.

He smiles too. “Great! I haven’t been able to do a thing with it.”

They get some glares from Toast, but he can’t help his grin. Capable sometimes treats him as if he’s fragile, but Dag doesn’t seem to have a filter between her brain and her mouth. It’s nice.

It’s dark when they finally turn down a deserted-looking road in the middle of nowhere. The house is an honest-to-god farmhouse, with sprawling fields on either side and an orchard’s worth of trees separating them from the road.

Valkyrie, the woman who drove them this far out into the middle of nowhere, gets out and leads them into the house, turning on lights as they get a tour. The stern older woman turns her eyes towards Nux and presses her lips together. “We don’t have a bed for you yet. We’re going to fix you up in the basement. Got its own bathroom with a shower.” 

It takes him a minute to make out the warning in her tone and stare. He nods quickly. “I can sleep on the couch until things are sorted. No worries.”

That seems to appease the woman and the girls run off to choose bedrooms and relax after the stress of their strange escape from the hospital. Nux sits down on the couch, closing his eyes again as he feels his throat start to close up a little. He pegs it as Larry’s work, since he’s closer and seems to be chewing on the front of his throat. He breathes deep, slow, trying to relax as much as his fever will let him.

It feels like a dream, some kind of strange hallucination that he’s here, in this lovely house.

He could die now and be happy, he thinks.

Except for the first time in a long time, he doesn’t want to die.


	5. Living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today, she waits at the window, wanting to be there for Nux when he comes back exhausted and sick. He still hasn’t said if his new doctor gave him any better prospects. She figures that means no, but she still hopes that he’ll come out of this. That they have some kind of future together when Immortan is in jail and they can be truly free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took forever for this chapter. Real life has been crazy hectic! So I hope this chapter lives up to the wait.

Capable learns a lot of new things in the weeks following their terrifying escape. The first and foremost is that right now, Marshall Valkyrie doesn’t want them to leave the house unless they absolutely have to. Which means that they left one prison for another, much nicer prison. It is a little upsetting, but that was the deal they made. It isn’t safe to just go running around while Doctor Immortan is still out there, probably looking for them.

The only exception to this rule is when Valkyrie takes Angharad and Nux to the hospital two and a half hours for checkups and treatments respectively. Today, she waits at the window, wanting to be there for Nux when he comes back exhausted and sick. He still hasn’t said if his new doctor gave him any better prospects. She figures that means no, but she still hopes that he’ll come out of this. That they have some kind of future together when Immortan is in jail and they can be truly free.

She shakes out of her thoughts when she hears the crunch of gravel in the driveway but stops when an unfamiliar car pulls up. She stands, frozen in the window until she sees Nux practically leap out of the back of the car before it comes to a complete stop. Already he has his fingers under the hood, waiting for the driver to pop the hood latch. Angharad stepped out of the back, bracing a hand on her swollen belly, smiling at the figure stepping out of the passenger seat. Furiosa. Furiosa looking alive and well save for even shorter hair. Max, Furiosa’s partner, stands warily beside Nux as he pokes around the engine.

Capable can’t contain herself anymore, she grins and nearly runs Toast over to get out the door. Furiosa is still standing far too close to Angharad, so Capable launches herself at Nux and wraps her arms around his bony frame. She hugs him hard enough to break him out of his oogling of the car. “You’re back! You’re all back!” She hadn’t realized there was a gaping hole in her adoptive family until she saw the two detectives that brought them to safety, risking their own lives in the process.

“Yes, Capable, we’re here. Valkyrie is just managing the federal case. We, Max and I,” Furiosa stumbles a little, glancing to her partner. “We retired and… decided to stay with you. If that’s alright.”

“Of course that’s alright!” She smiles so hard her face hurts and soon the other girls crowd around the car. 

“Capable, you’re squeezing me too tight.” Nux mutters in her ear and she lets him go, looking him over again. He still looks like a corpse, pale skin stretched over a lanky skeleton. No matter what they try, he just can’t gain any weight. She eases her hold on him and he leans against her, the energy he had for tinkering with Max’s car is gone.

She helps Nux inside, settling down beside him on the large couch as the rest of their family eagerly gathers. Dag falls unceremoniously next to Nux, resting her elbow on his shoulder. Cheedo and Toast sit on the floor at Dag’s feet. Angharad takes the rocking chair in the corner. It leaves Furiosa and Max the loveseat.

Capable glances at the others. Angharad seems to know what’s going on already and Nux has his head tipped back, his eyes already closed. They must have heard about this in the car.

“So, back at the house, it was Joe’s criminal associates, the Bullet Farmer and the People Eater. Their gangs were the ones that followed us. Set the bomb in the house. They had a mole at the police department. But don’t worry, you were moved to federal custody which is why you took a plane here in the middle of the night. He can’t touch you. Any of you.” Furiosa looks at each of them and Capable can’t help but press closer to Nux. “I’ll take Valkyrie’s room and Max is going to stay in the guesthouse.”

The “guesthouse” is a small shack in the back of the property that looks about as habitable as a hole in the ground. There is no proper plumbing, just the connections for a sink and a toilet and the electricity consists of extension cords running from the main house. “Max can have my room. I can move into the basement with Nux.” She usually ends up down there early every morning anyway, so why not just save them all the trouble?

“No.”

Her mouth pulls into a frown before he realizes who spoke. Nux looks at her with those clear blue eyes. “No, Capable. Keep your room. We talked about this in the car. I can help Max fix up the house.”

“I can help too.” Toast surprises everyone. “My Dad was a contractor. I know how to lay tile and dry wall.”

Cheedo pipes up with a shy smile. “We can paint it too. Inside and out.”

The girls chatter about the new project and Nux gets up off the couch to shuffle to the kitchen. Capable follows, cornering him by the fridge. “Hey. What was that about?”

“I need to have my own space.” He leans heavily against the kitchen counter, the fluorescent lighting in the room makes him look washed-out gray, like some kind of movie prop. He looks tired. Exhausted. She can’t tell if it’s the latest round of treatment or the fact that he might have had bad news. Both of these things worry her; his death looms ever closer and she’s not prepared at all to deal with it.

“I’m sorry. Of course you do. I didn’t think about it.” She feels guilty now, like she’s intruded on him. He never minded her visiting him at night but now she wonders if he was just too tired to protest. She forces herself to look up at him.

He doesn’t say anything else, just awkwardly steps sideways, his hands in the air to avoid touching her. 

She stands there for an unnamed amount of time, only turning when she finally realizes someone is calling her name. “What? Sorry.”

Angharad reaches out to smooth some of Capable’s wild curls away from her face. “It’s been a rough day.”

She pouts a little, wishing that she could have been the one at the hospital with Nux during his appointments, but these were the rules of their deal. They keep to the rules and they all get to stay together. “Did something happen?”

“I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is that you should let him rest and help us settle Max and Furiosa in.” She smiles and tugs Capable away from her thoughts. They occupy themselves for hours clearing out the old guesthouse and giving it a proper cleaning. She’s surprised when Cheedo calls them all in to eat the soup that Dag’s been tending to all day. It smells strange and has an odd color to it, but it turns out to be more pleasant than she expects. Nux even ventures upstairs to try some. 

After dinner mostly everyone heads to their rooms, except Nux, who curls up on the edge of the couch and huddles away from Dag, who keeps trying to feed him bits of raw ginger. “Dag, I think Cheedo said something about making a grocery list for tomorrow.”

“Yes. She doesn’t know all the things I need.” Dag flits away like a forest wisp.

“Thanks.” Nux mumbles and slowly uncurls. His eyes are glued to the TV, which shows some old game show. Something where the contestants are probably long dead considering it is broadcasted in black and white.

She sits down on the couch beside him, but leaves him some space. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he shakes his head and nearly meets her eyes. “I’m dying. You know that, right?” He finally meets her eyes. His are clear and certain. 

She frowns and it’s her turn to look away. “I know.”

“So it’s not going to work. Us. Being together. So no more getting in my bed at night. Or watching me while I sleep or hugging on me.” His voice wobbles slightly, but his eyes were sure. “I’m not your boyfriend. And I won’t sleep with you. And it’ll just be better this way.” He leaves without another word. She hears him slowly shuffle down the basement steps and the only thing left with her are the sounds of canned laughter from the ancient game show.

She curls in on herself and just stares, not having the energy to move. The sudden absence of the television makes her start. “Wha?”

“Go to bed, Capable.” Max mumbles and turns off all but one of the lamps. 

“He doesn’t want me.” The words spill out of her mouth as more of a pitiful whine than an actual sentence.

“’S not what he said.” Max sits on the coffee table, facing her. Waiting her out it seems. There’s a pile of neatly folded sheets and pillows and she suddenly realizes she’s keeping Max from his temporary bed.

“You heard?” She ducks her head and hides behind the curtain of her hair. Embarrassment makes her stomach turn a little.

“Nux is loud.” He’s patient at least, not demanding that Capable moves even though he looks tired.

“But we’re free now, why can’t we try?” She wipes the wetness from her eyes and sniffles.

“When he dies, what will you do?”

“If he dies-”

“Not ‘if’.” He cuts her off and bends down a little to catch her eyes. “It’s spread to his lungs. Hospital is sending an oxygen tank to be installed in the basement so he can breathe at night. A hospital bed. Portable oxygen. A wheelchair. Capable…” He takes a breath. It is the longest speech she’s ever heard from Max and both that fact and the words he’s saying bring fresh tears to her eyes. “He needs to start considering end of life care. Hospice. And it might be better for him to do that elsewhere.”

“But… he’s part of our family.” She wraps her arms around herself.

“If he hadn’t gotten involved, he’d have been sent to another hospital.” Max stands and starts spreading the sheets on the recliner, giving up hope of using the couch.

“But I love him.” She whispers as the sudden realization hits her as if it was a runaway semi truck.

“People die, Capable.” Max wearily sits in the recliner and pulls a sheet over himself. “You should tell him. Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

She sniffles again and gets to her feet, turning off the last lamp before heading up to her room. The bed creaks a little when she drops back onto it, staring at the blank ceiling.

The door opens slightly. “He’s an idiot.” And then Toast sneaks back to her room.

She finally checks the clock at four thirty-seven in the morning and sits up. Nux may have already decided how she’s supposed to spend her time, but she’s done being told how to feel. Before she knows it, she’s down in the basement, standing over Nux’s single bed. He has several pillows propping up his head so he can breathe easier, but the wheeze that escapes him is worrying. She almost loses her courage right there, but takes a slow deep breath.

“Nux? Wake up.” She reaches out to shake his shoulder a little.

He jars forwards, coughing so hard that it makes Capable’s chest hurt. She hands him the glass of water at the bedside. He takes slow sips until he calms down. And then it takes him a few minutes to wake up enough to register that Capable is still here. “What… are you doing here?”

“I know you’re dying.” The words hurt to say, so she gets them out as quickly as possible. “But I love you and I want to spend as much time together as we can. I mean…” she gathers her thoughts and sits down on the bed, taking his clammy hand in hers. “If I’m going to lose you either way, I’d rather be happy now.”

He looks up at her, as if he’s trying to comprehend her words through his fever. “Okay.”

“That’s it? Okay?” She’s bewildered that her hours of agony are resolved so quickly.

“Don’t have a lot of time left.” He slides over in the small bed. “Get in.”


	6. Late Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living together was proving to be difficult. It wasn’t just that he’d moved into a house with five women (six with Furiosa) and only two bathrooms. Well that wasn’t true, there was a bathroom in the basement, which is Nux’s territory, but the shower hasn’t worked since before they moved in and the toilet wobbled and doesn’t flush right and he will totally fix it, once he stops feeling so sick all the damn time.
> 
> And as much as he desperately wanted to do something Furiosa doesn’t have a lot of work to go around as is, so he’s stuck at home. In the summer. In the middle of nowhere. With five women that won’t let him touch the knob on the thermostat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sporadic updates again! I had this chapter started on my hard drive. It's sort of an interlude before the action really starts. If it ever starts! This story is more of an excuse to write modern day cuteness of Nux + Wives + Furiosa + Max fluff.
> 
> Also, I might be on a Cheedo kick.

Living together was proving to be difficult. It wasn’t just that he’d moved into a house with five women (six with Furiosa) and only two bathrooms. Well that wasn’t true, there was a bathroom in the basement, which is Nux’s territory, but the shower hasn’t worked since before they moved in and the toilet wobbled and doesn’t flush right and he will totally fix it, once he stops feeling so sick all the damn time.

And as much as he desperately wanted to do something Furiosa doesn’t have a lot of work to go around as is, so he’s stuck at home. In the summer. In the middle of nowhere. With five women that won’t let him touch the knob on the thermostat.

What these crazy women don’t understand is that due to the cancer and the chemo, he’s lost about every bit of fat on his entire body. Night fevers are a fun complication where he’s both freezing and boiling at the same time, making it impossible to be comfortable. Sleep impossible, he left his damp and chilly basement wrapped in one of the blankets from his bed. 

At two am, he didn’t expect to bother anyone else, but Cheedo already claimed the couch and TV. He knew he wasn’t the only one in the house with problems. In fact, the only reason they were all there was because of their problems. But this was probably the first time he’s ever really been alone with Cheedo. It was always the two of them and someone else to act as a buffer, usually Capable or Dag or even Max when he was around.

“What?” She finally asked and he realized she looked annoyed and he realized he’d been staring at her for a full two minutes. 

He gathered his blanket around his shoulders, gearing up to defend himself. “Couldn’t sleep. Mind if I watch TV. With you?” 

She looked at him again and nodded, moving over on the couch so she could claim one side and he another.

He plopped down on the couch with a cough and a sigh, letting his eyes close for a minute to let the dizziness pass. “What’re you watching?”

She stayed silent for a long moment. “Escape from New York.”

He opened his eyes and looked at the screen. Sure enough, cheesy 80’s sci-fi action movie paused from Netflix. “You uh… like this movie?”

She narrowed her eyes, challenging him, probably for the first time ever. She probably felt that she could knock him down with her pinky. Either that or she was much more brave in the middle of the night with Snake Plissken paused on the screen. “Why? Am I not allowed to like movies like this?”

“N-no. No. I just didn’t think that you’d like them. But… we don’t really talk so… I guess I never thought about what you like.” If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t know anything about her at all. He knew she came from an abusive home before her extended stay at Citadel General. That she didn’t trust men. Capable was always telling him that it wasn’t him personally. 

“Oh. Well that’s fair.” She nodded and put the movie back on. 

They remained quiet like that for a while, just watching the movie, when suddenly his space was invaded by a large icicle. Cheedo slipped her feet under his blanket and they were resting against his side. He looked over at her and she gave him an innocent look. “What uh… what are you doing?”

“I’m cold. You’ve got a blanket.” She wiggled her toes and he squirmed away from her lest she find out he was ticklish.

“There’s other blankets.” He pressed himself against the arm of the couch to escape her icy toes, but somehow, for a girl so short, she had reach.

“Come on, please? You’re like… toasty warm.” She whined a little and was leaning against him, hugging him like he was some giant teddy bear. Or the skeleton of one at least.

“I’m feverish. And sweaty.” He didn’t want to make any sudden movements. When he first moved in he’d been drilled on personal space and privacy and been told in no uncertain terms that he would be in pieces if he laid a hand on one of these girls that didn’t want it.

“Nux please? It’s so cold. If I turn down the AC, Dag will stab me in my sleep. And for some reason all the blankets got put in the attic for storage. Besides… I know you won’t do anything to me. You love Capable too much.” She looked him right in the eye and said that.

He took a breath, two, three, then gently moved her aside so he could rearrange the blanket so that it draped around them both. Cheedo pressed along his arm and curled her feet underneath and happily started up Demolition Man. She must have sensed that he’s seen the movie before, so she glanced over at him. “Capable didn’t sneak down to your room tonight. You two fighting?”

He sighed and wrapped his arm around Cheedo’s shoulders so that his elbow wouldn’t poke her in the side. “No. I told her to stay out of my bed for now. Haven’t been sleeping, so I usually end up pacing or reading or messing with parts and I can’t do that if she’s asleep. And well, you know how she gets when she’s tired.”

That gained him a smile. “Toast is worse. But yeah, I know what you mean.” She grabbed one of the throw pillows and put it between them. “Sorry. You’re uh…” She seemed to struggle with words a little.

“Bony? Pointy? Sharp? I get it. Do what you have to do.” He let her arrange herself and relaxed to the sounds and pictures on the TV.

“I’m usually awake. So I come down here. But it is more fun with someone else.” Her voice was quiet, barely heard over the dialog.

“Yeah? I like movies. You mind if I join you sometimes?” He was secretly pleased that there was someone else in the house that didn’t sleep regular hours.

As soon as the credits rolled, she turned to look at him. “Do you like popcorn?” 

He had to think if that was on his list of foods that he’s not supposed to have, then decides to hell with it. “Yes. I haven’t eaten in a while.” He let her get up first and then followed her to the kitchen where she made two mini bags of popcorn, then mixes them together in a bigger bowl. “Why are you doing it that way?”

“Oh uh… one bag is regular and the other one’s kettle corn. That okay? I didn’t think to ask.” She looked a little embarrassed that she forgot when the others always made a point to be inclusive.

“That sounds amazing. I’ll be right back though. Don’t start the next one without me.” He headed back down to the basement to get the super strong anti-nausea meds and a can of ginger ale he’d been hoarding. He grabs a second can and another blanket and heads up to find Cheedo already settled in with the bowl of popcorn and another movie queued up.

“Didn’t think you were going to come back.” She smiled, teasing a little. 

He set the cans of ginger ale down, then sorts out the blankets, letting the original blanket fall over their shoulders and the second go across their laps. He was in the process of taking his pills when Cheedo resumed her spot against him, the popcorn bowl balanced across both their thighs. “What’re you taking?”

“It’s so I don’t automatically vomit. Now there’s only a fifty fifty chance.” He grabbed a handful of popcorn to start with.

“That’s gross.” 

He laughed at her tone. Finally, someone that wouldn’t tiptoe around him or outright attack. Capable was still uncomfortable around a lot of the medical shit. Angharad tended to mother him. His whole existence seemed to piss off Toast. Dag seemed to like him well enough but ignored the cancer, avoided every aspect of it that he wondered if that brought back too many bad memories. Furiosa and Max were sympathetic but he didn’t like to tell them his problems. They’d done enough just to let him stay here and get the treatment that was keeping him alive. “It is.” He found it oddly refreshing to be so open.

“Before I got on good meds, I was like, always in hyper-rabbit mode.” She took another handful of popcorn. “Just imagine if every loud sound made you want to jump out of your skin.”

“Is that why they called you The Fragile?” He asked, stealing another clump of buttery and sugar coated popcorn. 

“Yeah. I hate it. I’m not a child. Nobody talks to me about anything serious.” She huffed and angrily chewed on the food. “They wouldn’t tell me how bad off Furiosa was until she came back with one arm gone. I mean, I had to eavesdrop just to find out that Angharad might have to do bedrest until she has the baby.”

“Oh, yeah. I think I know about that because I was just there. It’s a long ride to and from the hospital and usually I’m the one venting about medical shit. But she was pretty pissed about it.” 

“It feels like they don’t trust me.” She looked over at him.

He looked at her wide doe eyes, understanding the others’ need to protect this girl who was barely an adult. But that sort of smothering wasn’t his style. “Doctor’s talking about a bone marrow transplant. Thinks it might help. But since I don’t have any family, I have to wait for a donor to come up. Furiosa doesn’t even know. Max either.” He trusted her with this information. The weight that’s been dragging him down for the past week since his last appointment.

“Is this like, a blood type thing?” She asks honestly, not seeming to take the news one way or other.

“I guess? There’s a little more to it than that. But somebody needs to match and then it’s a bunch more tests and rules and… hassle.” He has been trying not to get his hopes up over this. That there could be a way to get more Time. Or even get better. He’s not sure he remembers what “better” is.

“I’ll get tested for you.” She said quietly, resuming the movie like nothing happened.

“Yeah?” 

“Sure. When you feel like telling the others, I’m sure they’ll want to get tested too.”

“Why?” He read all about the procedure. It seemed painful and gross and inconvenient to the donor. 

“Because you’re a part of the family.” She lightly pinched him in the side and settled back to finish the movie. “This is my favorite part!” 

He smiled and settled in, closing his eyes as he drifted to sleep to the sounds of Highlander.

Furiosa found them that way at six in the morning, Nux sprawled with his feet on the coffee table and Cheedo cocooned in a blanket and draped across his lap, popcorn bowl empty and on the floor. “Hey, you two. Clean up and get to bed.”

Cheedo sprung up and took care of the spilled popcorn while Nux handled the empty water glasses and soda cans. Soon the living room looked as if the movie marathon never happened.

Capable woke him up at eight with some toast and juice. “Hey. Sleep okay?”

He nodded, because he had, once he finally closed his eyes. “Yeah, you?”

“Mmhmm. Do you have any plans today?” 

“Not any more than usual. Why? You?” He nibbled on the toast and started taking his morning pills.

Capable looked away and waited for him to finish before she continued. “Well, it’s supposed to be nice outside. Not too hot. Cloudy. I was thinking we could have a picnic later.”

“That sounds nice.” He smiled. “Let me eat this and take a shower and I’ll be upstairs.”

“Okay.” She kissed him on the top of the head as she got up. “Don’t let Cheedo talk you into watching movies you don’t like.”

“Nah, it was fine. She likes the classics.” He chuckled a little.

Capable just shook her head as she headed upstairs.


	7. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nux rambled off the most likely candidates for the slight rattle in Max’s engine when he stops talking so suddenly, Max pulled his eyes off the road to look over at him.
> 
> “Nux?”
> 
> Max took in the kid’s pale (even paler) face and open mouth staring wide eyed at… something. He thought it was a seizure until he notices that Nux is staring at something in the mirror. The rearview confirms it. They were being followed. Not just by a large black SUV, but by a pack of motorcycles. Nux seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. “Max, that’s Joe’s car.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised you some action and here it is. As well as some Max!

It was just another ride to the hospital. Nux sitting up front in Max’s car and Angharad in the back. On the way back they’d switch. And Max never complains about how many times they have to stop to pee or throw up. He secretly loved “hospital days” though, not for the reason that the trio had to make the ride, but for the reason to just get into the car and drive down a long stretch of highway. Usually it was just the three of them. Sometimes Furiosa joined and sometimes not. But these past three months living out here with these women (and Nux) were nice. Part of him missed having a family, people to lean on. People that needed him as much as he needed them. The only thing missing was maybe a dog.

Yeah, he needed to find a good dog. A rescue, like the rest of them.

Nux rambled off the most likely candidates for the slight rattle in Max’s engine when he stops talking so suddenly, Max pulled his eyes off the road to look over at him.

“Nux?”

Max took in the kid’s pale (even paler) face and open mouth staring wide eyed at… something. He thought it was a seizure until he notices that Nux is staring at something in the mirror. The rearview confirms it. They were being followed. Not just by a large black SUV, but by a pack of motorcycles. Nux seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. “Max, that’s Joe’s car.”

Angharad gripped the seat tightly, but didn’t say a word. 

The stretch of road they’re on is practically abandoned. The old highway was the fastest way to the army base hospital, but they were in a long stretch between towns. “No way around this. Catching up on all sides.” The SUV was uncomfortably close on his bumper and the pack of bikes split, half filing in the other lane, the rest on the shoulder. Two in front, one on each side and the car behind. Surrounded with nowhere to go. The driver on his side taps on the window with a gun.

He had a gun stashed in the trunk with a bugout bag, but it’s nothing any of them can get to now. He cursed himself that he hadn’t been more paranoid. More careful. Especially with Joe Immortan still out there.

He could take out at least one of the bikes, but his car wasn’t made to go offroad in the desert and even so, there’s no telling how many more bikes or cars are out there. It’s a long way between towns, which was supposed to be in their favor. Someone at the hospital ratted them out. He flashes Angharad an apologetic look in the mirror and slows down with their captors. 

A hulk of a man stepped out of the SUV behind them and yanked open the back door, pulling Angharad out as if she were just a ragdoll. One of the men on bikes called out, “Careful Rictus! Gentle!”

Someone on the passenger side drug Nux out as well. The boy struggled as much as he could before he was put into a sleeper hold and fell limp against the leather-clad biker. Doors slammed in the SUV and the giant of a man is at his door again. Max made an attempt at fighting back, but between the confines of the driver’s seat and the big meaty hands that close around his throat, air is more of a priority. 

He was only vaguely away of being thrown. Literally thrown on the side of the road and watching the bikes, the SUV and his car (they stole his car!) drive off into the desert.

The world faded into blackness despite it still being morning.

“Get up,” the little girl insisted, trying to pull him from sleep. She’s been absent lately, or just quietly hovering on the edge of his vision. She wasn’t quiet now, her voice screeching and insistent. “GET UP! MAX!” She stretched out his name into a pitiful and demanding cry and he could almost feel her tugging on his arm.

His eyes snapped open and then blinked against the sun. He could feel the sunburn on his face, making his skin itch. His mouth was dry and throat sore. He spit out sand and rolled onto his side, very aware of the parts of himself that hit the ground first (shoulder) and the old pains that would never go away (knee).

The sun moved while he was out. At best he can tell it’s been a couple of hours. His phone was all but useless, the signal doesn’t get out this far and even so, he’s low on battery and the screen flickered, cracked at the edges. Nothing to do but try to make it to the next town over. Pick a direction and walk.

The pain in his knee screamed, made it known that it would rather he curl up and die right here. But Angharad and Nux are gone. Taken by that brute that has to be working for Joe. He pushed himself to his feet, looked up at the sun and started walking East hoping to make it to the truck stop and diner that they sometimes stop in before things get too out of hand.

The clock in the diner claimed it’s well past three, which is a disturbing amount of time, since it was just before 10:30 in the morning when they passed this place before the world fell apart. He asked the older waitress if he can use their phone and she handed him an ancient cordless with an antenna that telescopes out about three feet. 

Furiosa’s phone rings once. “What happened?”

“Got stopped on the road. At gunpoint. Took Angharad, Nux and my car.” He tried to keep his voice low so he doesn’t disturb the other patrons, but certain words carry.

“Who was it?” He could hear Furiosa getting her gear.

“Big guy. Huge. There were bikers too.”

“Must be Rictus, Immortan’s son. When was this?”

“Was about ten-thirty. They threw me out of the car. Broke my phone. Blacked out then walked about ten miles towards the closest place.” He was tired, but he knew there wouldn’t be time. Joe’s had Angharad and Nux for over three hours now. Who knows where they might be.

“I’m calling in the marshals. I’m also coming to get you. Stay put. You hurt?”

“Knee’s sore but I’ll live.”

With the most important information conveyed, they both hung up and he returned the phone to the unamused waitress. “Can I get a glass of water and a BLT?” He fished his wallet out of his pocket, glad he wasn’t mugged on top of it.

“You bringing trouble?” She asked him as she set the glass in front of him.

“No ma’am. Trouble left me behind.” He mumbled and sipped the water, grateful for every last drop after his long walk in the desert.

Furiosa must have broken every speed limit from the house to the diner, making the trek in just under an hour. Max was up and moving before she even got to the door and their eyes met on either side, staring through the dirty glass. No time or words were wasted when he jumped in the passenger seat of her truck.

“I can see why they took Angharad but why Nux?” He asked, the question turned in his mind the whole way back.

“Leverage probably. If Joe wants her baby so badly, which he seemed to have a fixation for, then he can’t hurt her.” Her words were clipped, her remaining hand clenched on the steering wheel. He didn’t need to know any more. He had an idea what a man like Joe could do to the kid.

They met Valkyrie and her team at the marshal office and were briefed on the possible locations of Joe’s base of operations. In clipped tones, Furiosa gave a run-down of Angharad and Nux’s medical conditions.

“We think we’ve narrowed it down to one or two locations, one is an abandoned clinic out near Bartertown. The other is an old warehouse on the other side of Salt Flats. We’ll be splitting into teams and checking out both at once.” Valkyrie waited for the answer to the question unasked.

“The clinic. We’ll go to the clinic.” Furiosa supplied. “He’s up to something.”

They piled into a chopper with a manic pilot that set them down on a private airstrip just outside of Bartertown. Thoughts of Joe with Angharad made him sick and thinking of Jesse, his late wife lost to him through violence of men that believed they could own people.

“Hey,” Furiosa shook him from his thoughts. “We’ll get them back.” She patted his shoulder with her good hand, the gesture a little awkward but heartfelt. 

He grunted, not able to form the words just yet, getting them stuck in his throat among the guilt. “Was supposed to keep them safe.”

“Fighting would have made it worse.” Furiosa confirmed his thoughts. It was nice, reassuring to know that he hadn’t just handed two innocent people over to a madman like Joe.

The old clinic was located off the highway, some trees partially shrouded it from the main roads and a high chain link fence kept most people out of the abandoned area. In the old parking lot was a black SUV surrounded by several motorcycles, but the place was eerily quiet.

Two of the marshals left their cars, the rest of the team with weapons out, ready to lay down cover fire if needed. As soon as the marshal stepped up to the SUV, the gunfire started. Dozens of gang members, War Boys if he recalled correctly, came out of the woodwork, behind the building and out the windows, through the doors. They were prepared for a fight. 

Valkyrie called in for backup from the local PD, Max and Furiosa huddled behind cover, she passed him her extra cartridges and he loaded both his and her guns. Two hands made the job infinitely easier. They moved together through the chaos, taking down the gang members, wounding where they could, but killing where they must. It was life or death and there were hostages on the line.

When the War Boys were all subdued or dead, they made a quick sweep of the clinic. The door was busted off the main office. The only man left inside was a stubborn midget (or was the term little person?) in a wheelchair glaring fiercely at the others. Max remembered his profile from the meetings (had it only been two hours ago?) Corpus. Another of Joe’s sons.

Furiosa stalked up to him, ignoring all pretense of chain of command. She towered over the man. “Where’s Joe?”

“Lawyer.” Was all he said.

Valkyrie rushed over, phone still in hand. “The other team reported in. It’s empty. No sign of him at all.”

The three of them looked at Corpus, who smirked up at them. He already asked for a lawyer. None of them could touch him.

The long day finally caught up with Max, he fell asleep in Furiosa’s truck on the last leg of their trip home. Valkyrie had sent them both home, they technically weren’t allowed to do as much has they had already. 

“Max.” 

He opened his eyes and stared at the old farmhouse. “Have you told them yet?”

“Yeah. It’s still going to be bad.” 

He nodded and hopped down out of the truck and limped towards the door, allowing Furiosa to slip inside ahead of him. All four girls waited up, even though it was well past midnight.

“Well?” Toast stood and demanded, her fists clenched tight when she realized that only two people entered, not four.

“They weren’t where we thought they were.” Furiosa stated in a tone that’s not meant to argue with. “Nothing we can do yet but sit tight and wait.”

“But what if they’re hurt?” Capable questioned, worry on her face and in the way it looks like her hair had been braided and unbraided and was in a half-state of braids.

“Valkyrie and her people are on it. Best thing to do is to get to bed.” Furiosa shooed the girls up to their rooms for the night. Reluctantly, they all went.

Max sunk down in the recliner, closing his eyes a minute. “We’ll find them.”

Furiosa nodded. “We will.”


	8. Prisoners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She pulled back a little. “We need to be ready when they come.” She stood and went to the bathroom of their room, frowning when she saw that the mirror had already been removed. 
> 
> “Angharad… we don’t even know why…” 
> 
> She turned, the sound of the door cut Nux’s words off. It was other than Dr. Joe Immortan, flanked by the hulking brute that tossed Max around like a ragdoll and another man wearing sunglasses that walked with a limp and looked as if his jaw had been broken and not set right.
> 
> Angharad glanced at Nux, who stared open-mouthed again. “Ace?” He lurched off the bed towards the man. The beast moved but the doctor stopped him, looking interested in how this would play out.
> 
> Nux flung himself at the man and wrapped his arms around him in a fierce hug. “Ace! They said you died!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's an awful lot of talking going on in this chapter. And there's some strangeness going on in this that's probably not right either but once it got in my head there was no escaping it.

The room they found themselves in could have been anywhere. It looked like a grubby motel room, two double beds with outdated patterns on the bedding. Nux was dropped unceremoniously on one bed and she walked to the other. The windows were boarded up from the outside, the only light in the room came from the old, dim lamp on the nightstand. There was an old tube TV across the room. The small, plastic remote sat on the bed beside her. She waited until they were left alone and moved over to Nux’s side. 

“Nux? Are you alright?” Already there were bruises forming on his neck and face from the struggle and he wheezed when he breathed.

Slowly his eyes opened. “Where… where are we?” He propped himself up on his elbow and looked around the room. “Where’s Max?”

“He’s not here. It’s just us. We’re… I’m not sure. Some kind of old motel.” She helped him sit and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, unsure if she’s trying to comfort him or herself.

He scooted closer and carefully wrapped his long arms around her, hugging her back. “It’s okay, they won’t hurt you.”

She pulled back a little. “We need to be ready when they come.” She stood and went to the bathroom of their room, frowning when she saw that the mirror had already been removed. 

“Angharad… we don’t even know why…” 

She turned, the sound of the door cut Nux’s words off. It was other than Dr. Joe Immortan, flanked by the hulking brute that tossed Max around like a ragdoll and another man wearing sunglasses that walked with a limp and looked as if his jaw had been broken and not set right.

Angharad glanced at Nux, who stared open-mouthed again. “Ace?” He lurched off the bed towards the man. The beast moved but the doctor stopped him, looking interested in how this would play out.

Nux flung himself at the man and wrapped his arms around him in a fierce hug. “Ace! They said you died!”

The man called Ace slowly wrapped his arms around Nux, though he frowned. “Aye, I suppose they would have. Angharad caught what might be a glare between Ace and Immortan, but she can’t be sure. Ace’s gaze settled on her. “Angharad, you’ve grown.” She knew it was something that people say when they knew you as a child, but he seemed to comment on her pregnant state as well, obviously not approving either.

“Who are you?” She placed a protective hand on the restless baby inside her.  
Nux stayed put, his arms still around the man, but Ace stepped forward, effortlessly dragging the young man with him. “I’m your uncle, Angharad. It’s been so long, that’s why you probably don’t remember me.” He removed his sunglasses and she started to see hints of her father in him.

“I always did enjoy family reunions,” Dr. Immortan drawled. “Such a happy family. Uncle and niece and nephew.” 

Nux seemed to do the math first. “What’s he talking about, Ace?”

Ace rubbed his hand along Nux’s head. “When your parents died, Angharad was sent to live with some family friends. They couldn’t take in two kids, so I took you on, Nux.”

Angharad remembers the day her parents were killed. The babysitter’s frantic crying to the policemen at the door. She was holding her baby brother on the stairs. No, it couldn’t be. She looked hard at Nux, but his hollow cheeks and skeletal features didn’t lend to the chubby baby she remembers.

It was Nux that saw it first, he reluctantly separated from Ace and sat down on the bed beside her. He studied her intently and then reached out to carefully take one of her blonde curls between his fingers, as if he’d just noticed it for the first time. “Angie?” He breathed, his eyes still the same blue as the baby she remembered.

“Nickie?” She’d all but lost hope of finding him again after the stern Social Services woman took her away to live with the guardians her parents chose for her should something happen. Years later, she tried finding Nicholas Blackthorn but all her searching turned up nothing. Now she knew why. Her head filled with so many questions, and regrets over the wasted months that they’ve been together and never recognized each other. She gathered him in her arms, holding him close in case Immortan decides to rip him away from her again.

The old doctor laughed when clung to Nux tighter. “It’s late, so I’ll leave you two alone for now. We have a busy day tomorrow.” He left, and the brute pushed Ace out in front of him. Two skinhead punks carried in trays of food. When they left, the lock slid into place with a resounding thunk. 

Nux curled around her and sighed. “You hungry?”

“No.” She held him for a long moment, then gently moved him to investigate the food. “But we should try. Who knows what he’ll do to us tomorrow.”

She brought one of the trays on the bed to sit between them as she tries to sort out her own feelings. “Do you even remember me?”

He shook his head. “No. I mean, a little bit but, I remember the color of my sister’s hair and calling her Angie.” He picked up a dinner roll and tore a piece off. “Could be a coincidence or he knew what you looked like as a kid and what my sister looked like.”

“Maybe? But what about that guy? Ace? I… he does look a little familiar.” She picked at one of the main dishes, it looked like chicken with some kind of sauce.

“At school, he explained to the teachers that he was my mother’s brother. Ace Warhbey was the name he used. I guess it’s a fake because one day he was just gone.” He picked at the bread again. “What about you? Where’d you end up?”

“I went to live with Miss Giddy an old lesbian biker chick that hated men.” She frowned, wiping her hands on a tissue from the bathroom. “I kept asking her about taking you in too, but she always came up with some stupid excuse. After a while, I just stopped asking.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, laying down on his side so he could watch her. He hugged one of the pillows to his chest. “How’d you end up at Citadel General?”

She set the tray on the bedside table and lay down opposite him. “I had an eating disorder. Self esteem issues. I was rather rebellious and went on dates when Miss Giddy said no. Of course I got in with the wrong sorts of guys that made me feel even worse about myself.” She brushed some hair from her face, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. “What about you? I mean, I don’t know anything about you and we’ve been living together for months.”

“Oh well… I guess I didn’t want to bother anyone. It still feels like… I was just accidentally brought along.” He tipped one shoulder up in a shrug.

“When did you get taken away from Ace?” 

“I was about eight… nine? I was in the fourth grade the first time.”

“The first time?”

“Yeah that’s when I started to get sick. Found a lump under my arm and I always seemed to have a fever. I was missing school a lot and leaving early. Finally, the nurse called Ace and told him to get me to a proper doctor or she’d call social services. So we went and it was Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and I started treatment right then.” He rolled onto his back, looking up at the stained tile ceiling. “About four months into it, I was starting to get better. I was waiting for Ace to pick me up from the hospital and he just never showed. Hours later a social worker came, took me to the house and made me pack a bag with my things in it. Then I was in a foster home and a new school and repeating the fourth grade. Soon as I was in remission, I was bounced around the system until only a group home would take me. This was when I was sixteen or so. Lived on the streets a while. Then I started feeling like shit again. And Larry and Barry here showed up shortly after. That’s when I made my way to Citadel General. Went to the ER and they couldn’t refuse me. Doc Organic was there and he showed my case to Immortan and they got me in for treatment.”

She reached out and threaded her fingers through his. “Where’d Nux come from then? And your last name is different.”

“Blackthumb was a misprint on some adoption papers Ace had. Said it was too much of a hassle to change and I could do it when I was older if I wanted to. It didn’t seem like a big deal so I kept it.” He looked over at her, his blue eyes searched hers. She thought maybe he was looking for approval there.

“I don’t think I blame you there. And Nux?”

“Ace used to call me that. Said I was a tough nut to crack so he called me Nux and it stuck better than Nick ever did.” 

She tugged him closer, wrapping her arms around his thin frame. “You’re feverish.”

“You’re warm too.”

“That’s because he’s keeping me warm,” she looked down at her very round belly. “He’s not too happy though.”

“I’m not very happy either,” Nux huffed, rubbing his forehead. “Next time they bring in food.” 

“No. Don’t. They’ll kill you.” She gripped his fingers tightly. “Don’t leave me alone here.”

He nodded. “Okay.” He relaxed in her grip, closing his eyes. “Gonna try to sleep I guess.”

She watched him sleep until her eyes grew heavy and she could no longer hold her head up. Her dreams were littered with latex covered hands groping at her, cutting the baby from her body. She woke up in a start when the door slammed open, revealing Ace and the hulk from before.

“What now?” She put herself between Nux and Ace, knowing that Joe wouldn’t order her hurt. He’d been obsessed with her getting pregnant while she was at the hospital so he probably wouldn’t do anything to damage the baby he wanted so badly.

“Rictus, wait outside,” Ace ordered and the large man ducked out of the room. The door was shut and Ace waited a few beats before sitting down on the bed between the door and Angharad. “Are you really Mable’s girl?” 

He must have wondered if Joe lied to them all, using family to make loyalties. “My mother’s name was Mable Warhbey. My father’s name was Jack Blackthorn. He was a professor at the local university. He taught… philosophy.” She had to strain her memory for the image of her parents, locked away like a good secret should be.

“Jack and I never got along. He thought it’d be better if you kids didn’t know me. But they didn’t count on Giddy not taking in Nux.” A look of regret and guilt spread across his face. “He going to be okay?”

“I can... hear you,” Nux wheezed from behind her. He didn’t bother sitting up, but raised a hand towards Ace’s voice. Angharad shifted so that Ace could see them both. “Why’re you in here?”

“I came to see if you were alright.” Ace straightened a little and pulled a card from his pocket, slipping it to her.

The room is bugged. Audio Only.

“I’m not alright, I’m dying. You go on and tell Immortan to hurry up with whatever he’s going to do.” He coughed, a deep, bone-rattling cough that shook him as he tried to catch hold of his breath. Angharad pulled him up off the pillow and frowned at how light he was. Ace was on his other side, his hands hovering but afraid to touch. Nux grabbed him by the collar and pulled Ace’s ear to his mouth.

She couldn’t make out what Nux said, but Ace gave a small nod and ran calloused fingers over Nux’s head. Rictus banged the door open again, making her jump.

“Dad said you weren’t supposed to be in here without him, Ace! Come on!” The large man stalked into the room and grabbed Ace by the shoulders and bodily hauled him out of the room. The giant stopped to look at Angharad. “Dad says when he’s done with you, I get next.” 

The door slammed shut again.

“We have to get out of here.” She said turning to Nux, who was still laying next to her. He was asleep again. She stroked his face, “Nux?”

That’s when she realized he wasn’t breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! Sorry. This isn't the end, I promise!


	9. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She didn’t know how long she bloodied her hands and screamed when the door pushed her back into the room. Rictus grabbed hold of her wrists and held her against his side while Joe and another man entered the room with a stretcher. She could hear the large man wheezing, his breath blowing her hair as the breath rattled out of him.
> 
> “Jesus Joe! You didn’t say he was that bad.” The greasy man hurried over to Nux and peeled wrappers off of various tubes from the kit he carried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some more action.

A scream ripped from her throat and she ran to the door of the room, pounding her fists against the metal. “HELP! HELP HE’S STOPPED BREATHING!”

She didn’t know how long she bloodied her hands and screamed when the door pushed her back into the room. Rictus grabbed hold of her wrists and held her against his side while Joe and another man entered the room with a stretcher. She could hear the large man wheezing, his breath blowing her hair as the breath rattled out of him.

“Jesus Joe! You didn’t say he was that bad.” The greasy man hurried over to Nux and peeled wrappers off of various tubes from the kit he carried. 

She couldn’t watch as the tube was inserted down his throat but she could hear the bellows attached to the tube push and pull air into Nux. “Rictus, stretcher!” 

Rictus practically shoved her out of the way and lifted Nux onto the stretcher as the other man continued to pump air. “Need another pair of hands, here. I’m only saving a life.”

She looked over at Joe, who stood watching her. She straightened her spine and moved to the side of the stretcher to take over.

“That’s it, nice and steady.” The man found a vein and ran an IV, holding the bag above his head. “Rictus, nice and gentle.” He cast a dirty look to Joe as they started out of the room and into the hallway.

“Where are we going?” She asked, briefly glancing around.

“To a bigger room. One better prepared for surgery.” Joe walked behind them. She could feel his eyes on her.

“Surgery? Why?” 

The gruff doctor laughed, still holding the bag above his head. “Tests first. I’m not just cutting on this one if his heart’s junk anyway.”

“A heart for Corpus and lungs for Rictus,” Joe looked at the brute steering the cart. “My sons are not well, my Splendid. You and your brother are such a close match to my boys, it’s almost as if he was delivered into my lap for just this reason.”

She nearly missed the next pump before she remembered why it was so important to keep going. “You’re just going to… to harvest his organs?”

Joe pushed her along with the stretcher as two bald gang members held the doors open to the hotel’s conference room that seemed to be transformed into the most horrifying hospital scene Angharad had ever seen. It wasn’t necessarily unsanitary, but the equipment looked like it had been scavenged from various places. On a bed in the corner lay a small body. She almost thought it was a child until she saw the beard on the man’s face. “Why wait until the cancer spreads even further, ruining the rest of his organs?”

“You’re a monster!” She was pushed out of the way by the other doctor and the manual air pump was replaced with a machine. She whirled around on Joe, clenching her fists in rage. “How dare you dictate what happens to him! And what was I then? And the other girls?”

He reached up and pet her head, then curled his fat hand into her hair and yanked her head to the side. “Your brother does not have what I need. For that I need a healthy donor. A match with a healthy immune system or the cord blood of a healthy newborn.” He let her hair go and grabbed her by the arm, leading her to a chair away from the doctor and Nux. “You were the first to take.” He pushed her into a chair and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“What happens now?” She glared at him as hard as she can manage, clenching her fingers to keep them from shaking.

“Now, we wait. Watch. Don’t look at me like that, my Splendid. I was his therapist for these past years. What else could he do that has more meaning than giving life to another? Would you rather him waste away in pain? Bringing him back just so he could die a little more?” 

She put her hands around her belly protectively. The baby was restless, kicking her this whole time. She felt pains but the last time she had they were just fake contractions. This monster wouldn’t get her son. She just had to find a way to delay them from killing Nux. Even if he was gone, Joe had no right to use his body like this, without permission or consent. 

“Immortan!” One of the skinheads burst into the room. “Immortan! We got cops! Lots of ‘em.”

Joe stood, glaring at Angharad, then at his pet doctor. “Just start already!”

“Can’t start, I need time to get ready! Dosage calculations. I’m not just some butcher you hired. I’m a doctor.” The greasy man yelled back.

“Immortan, what are your orders?” the painted gang member waited anxiously for orders. It was only now that Angharad could hear the gunfire outside.

“RICTUS! Come with me.” He yelled and left the room with his giant son.

She rushed up to Nux’s side, putting herself between Nux and the doctor. “Don’t do this.” She pleaded with the man. “You can’t kill him you’re a doctor.” 

“Look, I’m in a bind. I don’t do this and those pasty thugs with guns shoot me until I’m dead and he finds someone else to do it. I’m really sorry.” He tried to move around her, but she held firm.

“He’s not dead.”

The door burst open again. Ace leveled his gun at the doctor. “You stay away from my boy, Organic.” 

The doctor sighed dramatically, but backed up, his hands in the air.

Ace held a gun towards her but she shook her head. “No. I can’t.”

“Fine, just sit tight and this’ll be over soon.” He turned to the doctor, “Tell me what you did to him and you can get the hell out of here.”

“Nothing. Didn’t even give him anything yet. But he needs a proper hospital. Stopped breathing. You can’t just take him without an ambulance at least.”

Ace nodded and dismissed the doctor, who ran out the back of the room, away from the sound of gunfire. She turned to Ace. “What now?”

“Nux gave me a name and a number. Called it. I suppose this is the cavalry.” He cast a look towards Nux and made his way to the door to keep a lookout.

Another sharp pain came over her and she doubled over looking at her shoes, which were now wet. “No, no, no… not now.”

The gunfire was just outside the door now, she could hear boots and screams. Ace toppled a couple of tables on their sides as cover for when the doors finally flung open. Her eyes watered as she stifled a cry as another contraction hit her. She crouched down beside Nux’s stretcher, trying to focus herself on the whoosh of the breathing machine. 

“U.S. Marshalls drop the weapon and put your hands up!” Ace set the gun down and held his hands up.

“’Bout time you guys got here!”

Angharad tried to get up but was in no position to. More boots stomped their way over. 

“Angharad.” Valkyrie put her weapon down and carefully helped her up. She thumbed her radio on. “Found the hostages, I repeat. Hostages have been found. I need a bus. One is on a respirator, the other” the marshall looked down at the floor, “just went into labor.”

“Sorry.” She tried to be a little sincerer in her apology, but she lost track of time somewhere between Furiosa’s arrival at her side and the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Between contractions she explained what had happened, Joe’s insane plan to use Nux and her baby as spare parts for his sons and himself. She learned that Joe and Rictus had resisted arrest and were shot, but not before taking down three cops in the process. 

She grabbed Furiosa’s hand tightly. “Joe said, he and Ace, they said Nux and I are brother and sister. I want… I want a DNA test to prove it.”

“Of course, of course. We’ll get it done.” The retired cop shifted nervously, waiting with Angharad until the doctor arrived with the preliminary results. “Nux is going to be fine. Well. For him. They’re taking him to surgery to remove the lymph nodes on his neck.”

“He told Ace where to call.” She fidgeted with the hem of the blanket. “Is Ace going to jail?”

Furiosa shook her head. “No. Joe blackmailed him into helping. He had a record, but he served his time and didn’t really break any laws. Joe is dead. There won’t be a trial.”

Further conversation was interrupted by the doctor and nurses entering the room followed by the rush to get the baby out, even if he did want to twist into the wrong position.

It felt like forever, but she looked into the tiny face cradled in her arms and she couldn’t believe the past eight months had happened. Her little baby boy arrived healthy with a loud scream that made her sigh in relief.

Then Capable, Dag, Toast and Cheedo pushed into the room with flowers, teddy bears and balloons and she laughed and cried because she worried that she’d never see them again.

The baby fussed a little as he was passed around. Angharad took Capable’s hand. “How’s Nux?”

The redhead’s face faltered a moment before she squeezed Angharad’s hand back. “Surgery went okay. He’s in recovery now, they won’t let me in because I’m not family. That… Ace guy is with him.”

“Good.” She smiled and Cheedo passed the baby to Capable.

“Miss Blackthorn?” An unfamiliar doctor stood in the doorway. “Can I speak to you for a minute?”

“Of course.” She took her baby back and waited for the others to file out of the room.

Toast ushered everyone out, claiming that they would be back first thing in the morning.

“I’m Doctor Miller, Nux is my patient. I have the results of that DNA test you asked for.” He flipped through the papers on his clipboard. “You and Nux are brother and sister. Congratulations.”

She let out the breath she’d been holding. At least that hadn’t been a lie. “And that other thing I asked about?”

“We were able to harvest the stem cells out of your baby’s cord blood. It isn’t quite enough, but we can make due. It has a good success rate of working. And it’s a lot less invasive as a marrow transplant.” He adjusted his glasses. “You are doing a good thing, Miss Blackthorn.”

“When are you going to start?”

“We’ll wait until we’re sure he won’t have any effects from the surgery. Probably a few days. A week at most.”

“Is he awake?”

“Oh, yes. He is, we just moved him out of the ICU and into a room.”

With little persuasion, she had Doctor Miller put her in a wheelchair and take her to Nux’s room. Ace was there, sitting beside the bed with a crossword puzzle book. Nux stared idly at the late-night television shows as he lay back against the pillows. 

“Look who’s here to visit!” Dr. Miller announced, then left the room after parking her next to Nux’s bed.

“Hey Angie! How’d you like my distraction?” Nux rasped hoarsely as he smiled at her, then closed his eyes again, fast asleep.

“He’s drugged. Probably won’t remember much. You alright?” He looked her over and she realized for the first time she probably looked like warmed up death.

“I’m fine. You were right, Ace. Or should I call you Uncle Ace?” She shifted the baby from one arm to the other.

“Ace is just fine. I called my wife, Clara. She and our son, Coma are on their way, if you’d like to meet them?” He asked hesitantly, unsure if she wanted to keep up contact.

She smiled, internally reprimanding herself for not imagining that this man could even have other family. That she had other family that she’d never even met. “Of course.” She glanced at her sleeping brother. “Did Capable get a chance to come by?”

“Ah the redhead? Yes. She nearly took the doctor’s head off at the ICU. Your other friends took her home though.”

They shared a laugh and she yawned. “I should get back.”

“I’ll walk you over.” 

Back in bed, with her baby at her side, she closed her eyes and dreamed of her family, all of them, blood related and not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if the chapter is rather rushed and abrupt. I find that I'd rather get to the fluffy family bits than write out proper fight scenes. Hopefully you'll all forgive me for it.


	10. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Capable wasted no time, as soon as she was able to get a ride, she inserted herself by Nux’s side. She carefully moved Nux over, slipped off her shoes and climbed onto the bed with him. She glared at all the nurses, daring them to remove her. She’d almost lost him and wasn’t about to be separated from him now. She readied herself for another round of glaring but was surprised when a young man wearing sunglasses stepped into the room, followed by an older woman with silver streak in her hair. 
> 
> “I’m sorry, are we interrupting?” She asked, placing her hands on the man’s shoulders.
> 
> Suddenly she felt embarrassed for being in the bed while Nux slept on obliviously. “No um, I was just… uh…”
> 
> “It’s fine dear, don’t get up.”

Capable wasted no time, as soon as she was able to get a ride, she inserted herself by Nux’s side. She carefully moved Nux over, slipped off her shoes and climbed onto the bed with him. She glared at all the nurses, daring them to remove her. She’d almost lost him and wasn’t about to be separated from him now. She readied herself for another round of glaring but was surprised when a young man wearing sunglasses stepped into the room, followed by an older woman with silver streak in her hair. 

“I’m sorry, are we interrupting?” She asked, placing her hands on the man’s shoulders.

Suddenly she felt embarrassed for being in the bed while Nux slept on obliviously. “No um, I was just… uh…”

“It’s fine dear, don’t get up.” The woman smiled and led the boy to one of the chairs by the bed. “My name is Clara Warhbey and this is my son Coma. Ace, my husband, is outside filling out paperwork.”

“My name is Capable. I’m Nux’s girlfriend.” She shifted a little bit, giving Nux some more space. “He’s been asleep since I’ve been here.”

“That’s fine. Don’t get up on our account. Do you like cookies?” Clara smiled and touched Coma’s arm. He held up the Tupperware container he’d carried in.

“Chocolate chip oatmeal.”

Capable smiled and leaned forward to take the container. “Thank you. They look wonderful.”

Ace entered the room, surprised to see Capable, but smiling at the scene. “Be careful with those cookies. They’re addictive.”

“I’ll try not to eat them all before he wakes up.”

“Ev’ry one’s so loud.” Nux mumbled and threw an arm over his face. 

“Sorry,” Capable leaned forward to brush a gentle kiss on his forehead. “You have visitors though, sleepy head.”

He opened his eyes and smiled at her, then his eyes landed on Ace, then the others. “Ace! I thought I dreamt you came.”

“Nah, we’re here now.” Ace sat down in the chair closest to the bed. “This is Clara, we got married about three years ago. And Coma, our son.”

The more she looked, the more it seemed that Coma was Clara’s son, but Ace seemed to genuinely care for the blind boy, who seemed no older than Cheedo.

“That’s great, Ace.” Nux rasped, his words grating out of his sore throat, damaged and sore from the tube and then the surgery. She smiled when his thin fingers threaded through hers.

She listened with Nux as Ace told him about what happened all those years ago. How he hadn’t been a very good guy, but he tried to turn himself around when Nux came into his life. He explained that when Nux got sick, he struggled with money and took a not-very-legal job to support them and got arrested. When he got out, he tried to track Nux down but couldn’t find him. Then he met Clara and Coma and became a mechanic for a shipping business, and bought the successful business just last year.

Soon they were joined by Angharad with her baby, Jack. She perched on Nux’s other side and held the baby where Nux could see him. 

“You had the baby! And I missed it.” He looked disappointed, but gladly accepted the little bundle of his nephew… the revelation of their shared parentage still shocked Capable, but she was glad that Nux was no longer alone in the world.

“Trust me, it wasn’t anything you wanted to see.” 

After a while, Coma stood up and shook out a red and white cane, clicking it together. “Gonna get some food.” He mumbled and Capable could see the silver of braces on his teeth. 

“Bring back a coffee for me.” Ace said and the young man nodded, heading down the hall towards the cafeteria. 

Capable could see Nux tire so she gently took Jack from him. Angharad took Coma’s seat. 

Clara was a music teacher at a local high school. She took a turn holding Jack and humming to him when he started fussing. Angharad took the baby back and excused herself for feeding.

Nux fell asleep shortly after though none of them wanted to leave him alone. 

Coma returned with Cheedo in tow, who hesitantly let him hold onto the elbow of her shirt. “We ran into each other out in the hall.” Coma said quietly.

“Where’s my coffee?” Ace eyed his son, who stepped away from Cheedo.

“I forgot. Sorry.”

“Ohh he’s asleep.” Cheedo frowned and placed a crudely wrapped present on the bedside table. She made he way to the other side of the bed, nearest Capable, but kept glancing at Coma shyly.

The day passed quickly, Ace and his family leaving after lunch and Capable teased Cheedo for not getting Coma’s phone number. Angharad, Jack, Furiosa and Max came before visiting hours were up. Nux opened his gift and was delighted to find that everyone pulled their money to get him an iPad so he wouldn’t be too bored. Cheedo already had Netflix installed and made him a queue for cheesy action movies.

The next two weeks passed in a blink. Nux’s transplant and treatment progressed well enough that he could finally think about leaving.

“When they let you out of here, we’ll have a barbecue,” Ace said, affectionately rubbing Nux’s head. “Clara already fixed up a room for you.”

Capable looked up sharply. She hadn’t expected this. While the hospital he was at was an hour closer than the one he’d been to before, Ace and his family were local. Of course it made sense for Nux to live with his family. She just was surprised that Nux hadn’t brought it up. Being separated while he was in the hospital was one thing, how was she going to be away from him all the time?

“Yeah alright. Hey Ace? Can you sneak me some fries?” Nux gave him that puppy dog look that Capable had seen him use when he wanted something he knows he shouldn’t have. 

Ace chuckled. “You still like the ones from McDonalds? Alright. You want anything else? Apple pie? Burger?” With another pat on the shoulder, Ace left the two of them alone.

“You’re going to live with them?” She asked, unable to keep the tremble out of her voice.

“I was gonna bring it up. Really. But there’s never been a good time.” He sighed and took her hand. “Ace and Clara live close by. It makes sense for me to stay with them. They’re fine with it. They want me. And I guess my… parents… left some money for Angharad and I. So there’s most of the bills paid.” He mumbled, looking down at the bunched up sheets in his lap. “And when I’m feeling better, Ace said I could have a job in his shop fixing the trucks.”

“But… it’s so far.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt like a selfish child. Of course he wanted to live with his family, his real family.

“It’s about forty minutes’ drive from the house to Ace’s. That’s not that far.”

“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry. I’m being stupid. So are you… getting better?”

“Doc says it is. Still got a ways to go. But Jack helped a lot.” He nodded, keeping a tight lid on that hope that Jack brought. It was still a long road to a complete recovery, but he was out of the danger zone for now.

She slipped into the bed with him, hugging his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. “When are you going to get out of here?”

“End of the week. You’re all invited to the party. Coma specifically asked if Cheedo would be there.” He smiled and played with the end of her braid.

“She hasn’t said anything. I mean, I’m sure she’ll come but she hasn’t mentioned Coma. Then again, she usually tells Dag her secrets.” She allowed herself to relax, pushing her anxiety down deep. Nux didn’t need her to start panicking over the fact that he won’t be within shouting distance all the time. He didn’t need to know about the time when she had terrifying panic attacks whenever she went to look for him at home and he wasn’t there. He absolutely didn’t need to know that every time she closed her eyes, she expected to see his lifeless body staring coldly at her. 

But no one here said ‘terminal’ or ‘hospice’ or ‘end of life’ and they were cautiously using the word ‘better’ and ‘discharged’. 

Ace returned with the smuggled food and and told her stories about when Nux was young. When visiting hours were over, Ace walked her down to Max’s waiting car.

When Max saw them, he pulled a box out of his trunk. “It’s not much.” Max apologized and handed the box over. Capable recognized the hoodie Nux wore when they made their hospital escape. And just like that, Nux was passed over to Ace. All his worldly possessions that weren’t in the hospital room with him. It unsettled her even more and she found it difficult to meet either man’s eyes, so she mumbled a goodbye to Ace and shuffled into the front seat of Max’s car.

Ten minutes into the ride home, she couldn’t take Max’s customary silence anymore. “It feels like we’re throwing him out. Or that they’re stealing him.”

“Not like that, Capable.” He hummed and glanced her direction. “Need to do what’s best.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled an agreement and stared out the window until they got back.

She stepped inside the house and sat down at the kitchen table, watching Furiosa and Angharad make supper. “How’s Nux?” Furiosa asked, handing off a pot holder.

“He’s doing well. Excited about going to live with Ace and Clara.” She tried to keep her tone light. “We’re all invited to their place for a party this weekend.”

“That’s nice. Do we have to bring anything?” Angharad turned back to look at her.

“I forgot to ask. Sorry.” She ducked her head sheepishly. 

“I’m sure you can ask Nux later when you call him for hours.” Furiosa gave her a playful glare.

“We don’t talk for hours. He usually falls asleep after one.” She giggled and got up to help prepare dinner. 

Even though there was barely enough room in the kitchen for all of them, dinner was nice. Happy. She had fun. And afterwards, she called Nux, even though it was had only been a few hours since they parted.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Missed you.” She lay down on her bed, curling up and looking up at the ceiling. 

“Missed you more. It’s just so boring without you here, climbing in bed with me. If Slit hadn’t been there…” He trailed off and she could almost picture his blush.

“That’s just your excuse. We could have done a lot more than sleep, you know?” She teased because she isn’t looking at him right now. She wasn’t sure if she would have gotten the words out in person.

“Nah. All those meds I was on. The stuff I’m still on? You would’ve been kind of disappointed, I think.” His answer was much more honest.

“Never. I’m so proud of you.” And she was. Not many people would have helped her and her sisters in the state he was in when she drug him out of bed that day, months ago. And he had a plan with his life. 

“I’m proud of you too, Capable.”

“I haven’t done anything to be proud of.” She rolled on her side, twirling a braid around her finger.

“Yeah you did. You kept me going, you know. You were the first person in a long time that was just… nice to me. For no reason.”

“It wasn’t for no reason. I had lots of reasons.” Her face headed up at the thought of their first meeting.

“Yeah? What was one?”

She closed her eyes, remembering when she very nearly bowled him over in the garden at the hospital. “Your eyes. I’ve never seen anyone with eyes like yours before.”

“That’s kind of cheesy.” He teased, though she could hear his voice hitch a little.

“I know. You like it though.” She smiled back. “I’m gonna miss having you so close.”

“We’ll make it work.” 

“We better. One day you’re going to have to actually take me on a real date.” 

She listened to him laugh. “A date outside the hospital? Is that a thing?”

“Yeah, I expect all the staples; candy, flowers, kiss at the doorstep.” She giggled, unable to keep a straight face.

“You’re awfully pushy now that I’m not dying.”

The thought made them both break into laughter. She laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face and Toast came to check on her. 

After she calmed herself down, she sighed. “Still there?”

“Yeah.”

“I love you, Nux.”

“Love you too, Capable.”

The future was scary. There was so much she didn’t know. But she did know that whatever happened, she’d always have Nux and her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was it. Everyone lives happily ever after! Thank you for reading this and sticking with me on this odd rambling AU. 
> 
> Don't worry, I still have All Thing Shiny and Chrome to write on (when I get inspired again) and a new AU popped into my brain that I kind of need to get down.

**Author's Note:**

> You'll see more of the "wives" in the next chapter. Also an appearance by Furiosa.


End file.
